Wireless Streaming: Just Around the Corner

The stage has been set: Last month's announcement that Nokia, the world's leading mobile handset supplier, would offer RealNetworks' RealPlayer technology on its EPOC-based communicators and smart phones, depicts a near future of rich streaming media being delivered to mobile phones and wireless mobile computing devices. The agreement will allow mobile phone users with suitably enabled devices to experience RealAudio and RealVideo content available on Web sites worldwide.

In pursuing this deal, RealNetworks clearly hopes to open a door on a mobile Internet market that could, according to some industry estimates, grow to include 1 billion users by 2005.

The idea that the combination of the world's two fastest growing industries -- mobile communications and the Internet -- will create one very large, fast-growing market fat with new revenue possibilities is very attractive. But first there must be a reliable high-speed network in place.

That is no small hurdle, but some key technologies are emerging that promise to make high-bandwidth mobile Internet connectivity - complete with rich streaming media applications - a reality. Trials of high-speed wireless services will begin this summer; many expect to see a limited commercial rollout by early next year, with full speed potential reached in 2002.

Europe will be the primary venue for these trials and initial commercial offerings - the region's GSM digital mobile network is particularly adaptable to the coming high-bandwidth technologies, and many of the companies developing those technologies already have a strong foothold in the European mobile market. But Asia - where GSM is also widely used - and North America will follow closely behind.

This won't happen without some strong market impetus, however. Just as streaming content providers are looking to broadband technology companies to open the door to the wireless world, the players in the broadband wireless space are banking on compelling streaming media applications to drive the adoption of their services by mobile users.

When it all comes together, streaming media companies will need to be well versed and well positioned to take advantage of a wealth of opportunities - new outlets for streaming content, demand for new types of streaming content, and new precedents for attaching fees to that content. Here's an overview of the technologies, devices, and market dynamics at play.

The Technologies

The GSM digital mobile communications network already in place in Europe and some Asian markets - and the TDMA (Time Division Multiple Access) networks installed in North and South America -- are adaptable to high-bandwidth capabilities that can accommodate streaming media. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service), in particular, has broad industry backing, and seems to hold promise as the delivery mechanism for a range of high-band wireless services.

WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) is the first in a series of evolutionary stepping-stones toward the high-speed "3G" (third-generation) networks of the future. The WAP technology available on enabled GSM phones in Europe supports standard GSM speeds of 9.6Kbps, At this year's CeBIT exhibition in Hanover, Germany, mobile handset manufacturers were announcing the arrival of WAP, with some hyping the technology as "the Internet in your pocket".

However, users expecting a mobile Internet experience comparable to what they have at home and at work have been sorely disappointed. "WAP is like the Internet was four or five years ago -- text only, uninteresting, and uninspiring," said Chris Hermann, UK and Ireland business development manager at IP streaming specialist Winnov.

But the arrival of GPRS, which should take place within the next 12 months, will up the ante by supporting much higher transfer rates and "always on" connections for mobile devices - capabilities that have the potential to make mobile streaming a reality.

GPRS delivers data in a series of "packets", rather than in a smooth stream of bits, as do today's mobile data services. Theoretically, GPRS could provide data rates of up to 172Kbps -- 10 times faster than GSM, and three times as fast as analog 56Kbps modems. Because the GPRS scheme involves bandwidth sharing, initial real life speeds for GPRS are more likely to top out around 50Kbps.

GPRS will support all of the services available over the wired Internet - FTP (File Transfer Protocol), telnet, chat, e-mail, Web browsing, telnet, and, as full speeds are achieved, streamed media.

In the initial stages of GPRS deployment, the key players in infrastructure development will be those companies already steeped in the GSM market, such as Nokia, Ericsson, Alcatel, Siemens, Lucent Technologies, and Nortel Networks. But independent suppliers of network infrastructure and services are already beginning to emerge, paving the way for a competitive provider marketplace. At first, a pay-per-access model is likely to be employed by GPRS service providers. The feeling is that incremental, use-based fees would help to promote usage of the services.

Phase II

The second phase of GPRS, probably in 2002 will involve the deployment of EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), which offers theoretical data rates of over 384Kbps -- comparable to standard DSL services. Typical single-user speeds are likely to be around 112Kbps.

Soon after EDGE, the full-blown 3G networks capable of offering data rates of 384Kbps to 2Mbps will start to roll out. "When we start to get to those levels, then the Internet experience will be very pleasant via a mobile," comments Tim Sagar, pre-sales director for 3G Terminals at Alcatel.

Although some of the mobile networks in North and South America will also support these technologies, Asia and Europe are expected to benefit from 3G first, according to market research company The Strategis Group. The group predicts 3G networks could be operating in these regions as soon as 2002, although full network coverage will take much longer. The United States, adds Strategis, will be about two years behind.

Unplugged Devices

The rollout of mobile streaming applications has other hurdles than bandwidth limitations to clear. Users will need to be equipped with GPRS-capable devices - current GSM phones will not be able to access GPRS services. This represents new opportunities for product turnover for suppliers of phones and wireless-enabled handheld computers. But all are not in agreement about what those GPRS-enabled devices will look like, and what core capabilities they will possess.

While some industry observers believe a single integrated device for mobile phone and mobile multimedia applications is the answer, others argue that a distributed approach -- a PDA device with a large color screen linked to a handset via Bluetooth wireless technology -- is a better answer.

Tapio Hedman, vice president of communications at Nokia Mobile Phones, believes there will be many different answers to the device question. "The situation we already have on the mobile phone/device marketplace today is that you have several product categories that are differently optimized for different kinds of users with various usage needs," he says. "This kind of development will continue in the future, when you will see more and more product categories available."

According to Hedman, some devices will be optimized for viewing and sending rich visual content, while others may be optimized for personal information management. "All of these will offer voice connectivity, and Internet connectivity will be a standard feature in most devices in the relatively near future," he says. "The mobile RealPlayer is an application that can be in integrated into several devices."

The RealPlayer for the first Nokia EPOC products is scheduled to be available in 2001. The EPOC operating system is being promoted by a Symbian-led alliance -- including Nokia, Matsushita, Motorola, Ericsson, and handheld computer maker Psion -- as the operating system for future generations of "smart" phones and other mobile communication devices.

RealNetworks isn't the only player on the mobile streaming field. Microsoft Europe is already working to put Windows Media Player capabilities into PocketPC devices. "We want to deliver the richest experience on a mobile device," says Dilip Mistry, product manager for Mobile and Embedded Computing Solutions at Microsoft Europe.

Several smaller companies - including ActiveSky and PacketVideo - are also providing software media players for mobile devices. ActiveSky's Media Player is already available for PocketPC, Windows CE and Palm devices; the company plans to launch an EPOC version soon. PacketVideo's PVPlayers are available as firmware pre-embedded on silicon for a number of device platforms, as well as via download.

Mistry is also adamant that the Internet should not be viewed as being tied to any specific device. "The term ‘mobile Internet' doesn't make sense to me. It's the Internet which you happen to access from a mobile device," he says. "There are a lot of WAP sites which you can only view with a WAP handset; similarly there is a lot of open TV content that I can only view on a TV. That is not the way forward. The way forward is content which is agnostic of any kind of device."

Take It Easy: Audio First

Nokia and RealNetworks believe streamed media can become popular with mobile users in the short term. But these companies are not blind to the shortcomings of current mobile data technologies, and the time it will take to achieve true high-bandwidth speeds, so they plan to start with audio.

"A lot of people, when they hear ‘wireless multimedia', immediately think of video. However, when I think about wireless multimedia I start from audio. We believe audio will be super important in terms of enabling wireless multimedia," says Roger Gulrajani, senior director for the Consumer Appliance Group at RealNetworks.

With a GPRS connection to a wireless terminal, a person could be provisioned a bandwidth of roughly 30Kbps to 40Kbps when they are walking down the street, Gulrajani says. "That's a great platform for being able deliver streaming audio. In Europe I could listen to an Internet radio broadcast that is being made by a station in the U.S.. That is the sort of thing that will be the enabling application. Video in terms of wireless is interesting, but the networks need to be built out."

Universal Content

Once the network is ripe for streaming, the feeling is that mobile multimedia content will be no different from the content delivered to the desktop. "Any content will take advantage of high-speed wireless access. There is no vertical market of content that won't be able to benefit from it," opines Dan Rayburn, worldwide product manager for streaming media at Internet connectivity and solutions provider Globix Corp.

That should be good news for content providers, but there are still major issues over content that must be resolved. Microsoft's Mistry points to problems over copyrights and fees. "In terms of the mass market, you not only need to ensure there is reliable infrastructure, but you've also got to have the appropriate intellectual property engines and billing mechanisms in place. A lot of this work is still very much in development," he says.

RealNetworks' Gulrajani predicts content will evolve the way it has on other broadcast media. "This is just an extension of a model that already exists. So I would assume that there would be some content that would be paid for, some that was advertising supported, and some that was free," he explains.

But this is a question that must be addressed as soon as possible, adds Nokia's Hedman. "If you want to be a player in this business you have to be setting your business system up today and figuring these things out."