Swisscom relaunches mobile TV service

Swisscom has launched a new mobile TV service called Swisscom TV Air, replacing the previous DVB-H service Swisscom TV Mobile.

The new service, which enables customers to watch live sports events and VOD content, uses HSPA/UMTS/EDGE technology rather than DVB-H. The lack of DVB-H compatible handsets forced Swisscom to change the technology it uses for the new service, which launched yesterday.

For CHF9 (€6.30) a month, customers can watch 34 live TV channels on mobile phones and PCs. Swisscom said it would add 10 more channels in May. The operator is also offering live sporting events, including football and hockey matches, for CHF5 per game. On-demand films and programmes cost CHF3.50.

Separately, at the IPTV World Forum in London, Harmonic announced that Swisscom was using its ProStream 4000 transcoder to power the new service. The video equipment supplier said Swisscom was using it to transcode both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 broadcast video content to mobile and internet formats. The ProStream 4000 forms part of Harmonic’s MediaPrism Convergence Suite for multi-screen video delivery.