Banging the 2.5G TV Drum

David Murphy catches up with ROK TV's Bruce Renny in the wake of the company's great performance in a recent independent test of the UK's Mobile TV services

You cant help liking ROK.  Any company that can launch a product called BLCX and keep a straight face has to have something going for it. And if you were a media company in the leading-edge business of Mobile TV, would you base yourself in Soho, or, like ROK, opt for Wolverhampton?
You get the feeling the company likes its underdog status, and right now, ROK Marketing Director Bruce Renny cant help feeling pleased with the world. Just over a week ago, the companys Mobile TV service, which delivers a bouquet of channels to 2.5G phones, was judged the UKs second best Mobile TV service, by research company Strategy Analytics. ROK finished ahead of 3 in third place, and also ahead of Orange, whose service suffered embarrassing technical glitches so severe that the research panel was unable to evaluate it. No wonder Renny is happy.
This was an independent consumer test that proved what we have been saying for some time now: that Mobile TV is not the exclusive domain of the 3G players he says. With ROK TV, its a mass-market proposition, and its here right now. 
In the Strategy Analytics tests, the various Mobile TV services on offer were each awarded points for the usability, audio-visual quality, network performance and content, with a maximum 100 points available in each category. Vodafone Live! Mobile TV achieved the highest composite rating of 65/100. ROK was just five points behind, with 3 a further four points behind ROK.
Vodafone scored highest in each category, though the middling totals achieved by all three participants offer a clue to the fact that users could have been more impressed. Network, device and time limitations were all cited as negative factors by members of the Strategy Analytics Advanced User Panel which took part in the test.

The best engine
ROK performed well in all categories, with the exception of content, where it scored only 56/100. Renny concedes he would like to have done better, but stresses that the issue is easily addressed.
Content is the moving feast which we are constantly addressing and updating he says. We are building up a picture of what real paying Mobile TV consumers watch, and resourcing that accordingly. After all, you can paint your car any colour you like, but it will only go as fast as the engine allows. We believe we have the best engine. It plays faster and full screen on more handsets than any 3G TV service currently available.
ROK now plans to start licensing its patent-pending technologies to selected networks and carriers around the world, in order that they can offer Mobile TV services to their 2.5G customers.
We have licensed to six major telcos around the world, and there are many more deals in process, including deals with European telcos says Renny. Until recently, all the European telcos have been chanting the 3G mantra. What we have seen in the last few months is a switch in that thinking, where some of them realise that the bulk of their customers are not using data. The obvious provision there is to offer them Mobile TV, so the innovative carriers are realising that its not just all about 3G.
When I put it to Renny that the 2.5G/3G argument will gradually disappear as 3G devices become more affordable and penetration rises, he is quick to disagree.
You have to remember that 3G is still only 5% of the total global market he says. I think it will take more than a few years for 3G to become anything more than a niche service. In the meantime, the fact that Mobile TV works, and has been proven to work, on 2.5G devices will send a shiver down the spine of the major 3G players.
And that prospect, you cant help feeling, is one that fills Renny with a mischievous delight.