China Mobile selects Streamezzo to develop and deploy Interactive Mobile TV offering in time for 2008 Olympics
Over Half a Million Viewers Experienced Four Thousand Hours of Broadcast TV and Millions of Video-on-Demand Sessions via Streamezzo’s Rich Media Platform
Paris, France ─ October 21, 2008 ─ Streamezzo, creators of the Universal Software Platform™, today announced that China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile) selected Streamezzo’s rich media software platform and professional services to design, develop and deploy its new interactive Mobile TV offering. The service was released to all China Mobile subscribers in conjunction with the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
China Mobile’s requirements to Streamezzo were to develop and deploy a Mobile TV service offering the best user experience for the subscribers, design an intuitive interface for seamless browsing among 15 new live Olympic TV channels broadcast for the Games, and do it quickly. In partnership with China Mobile, Streamezzo successfully completed and launched the new service in time for the Olympics making China Mobile the world’s first operator to broadcast Olympic Mobile TV services during the Olympic Games. Over the course of the event some 3,800 hours of live programs were broadcast to Olympic fans and millions of Video-on-Demand sessions were experienced via Streamezzo’s rich media software platform.
“We are proud to have played a role in the success of the Beijing Olympic Games by delivering this informative and exciting news and entertainment to Olympic fans and our valuable customers throughout China,” said Wang Bin, General Manager, Data Operation Center, China Mobile Group Shanghai Limited. “The overwhelming popularity of this new offering clearly proves that there is tremendous interest in a Mobile TV service that combines high-quality and relevant content with a truly uperior user experience. We look forward to continuing to expand the depth and breadth of this powerful new service to our subscribers.”
Key among China Mobile’s decision criteria in selecting a technology partner was a requirement to support both TD-SCDMA and GSM/EDGE networks and provide accessibility across a diversity of mobile handset platforms. Streamezzo’s Universal Software Platform is compatible with hundreds of handsets and all mobile operating systems, and seamlessly supports unicast and broadcast video applications across all networking standards. Streamezzo’s deep domain experience in developing Mobile TV services for many of the world’s largest mobile operators also gave China Mobile the confidence that the new service would be completed on-time and would work as planned.
The new Mobile TV service features an intuitive interface via the mobile keypad and touch-screen, offering all the functionality of a TV remote control for a familiar and powerful user experience. A video-on-demand program guide is also included in the design, giving users the ability to locate and view their favorite shows at the touch of a button.
“Working side-by-side with China Mobile on this first-of-its-kind mobile industry project to coincide with such an auspicious launch date was a great challenge for everyone on our team,” said Pierre-Emmanuel Struyven, CEO of Streamezzo. “This was a very ambitious initiative by China Mobile with stringent requirements and an aggressive timeline and this highly successful launch demonstrates the commitment of our people and the power of our technology. We are extremely honored to have played a key role in the largest Mobile TV rollout in the world.”
