Back in earlier May, I got a chance to interview Mr Sebastian-Justus Schmidt, CEO of Spb Software at 2nd annual Vietnam Telecom International Summit, organized by BeaconEvent, at Melia Hotel, Hanoi. Sebastian is the CEO of Spb Software since 2001 till now. Before that, Sebastian is the Director & member of Board of Management Data AG. He shared his thought and experiences about latest Spb mobile TV technology & mobile industry perspective. Below is our conversation:

Interviewer: Tom See (TS), Founder/Organizer of MobileMonday Vietnam, Hanoi chapter;
Interviewee:  Sebastian-Justus Schmidt (SJS), CEO of SPB Software

TS : Everyone talks about mobile TV, can you elaborate more on the different aspects of mobile TV?
SJS : This is indeed a good question. When people mean mobile TV, there are really only two methods that they refer to, the first being streaming TV over data channels like 3G or Wimax etc, and the other being broadcast-based using digital standards like DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting – Handheld) or DMB (Digital Media Broadcast).

TS : What about phones that have analog TV receivers?
SJS : Yes, it is literally putting a TV receiver in your mobile phone and it receives free-to-air terrestrial broadcast signals from existing TV broadcasters just like your standard TV at home. And just like your standard TV, issues like poor indoor reception, interference, “snowy effect” etc. will apply. Oh and you might break the antennae sticking out of the phone!

TS : What is SPB TV then ?
SJS : SPB TV is a streaming TV service that allows 3G operators to leverage their existing networks to offer live TV over their data networks. It is an end-to-end solution, as we provide both the needed server platform and the client software for viewing SPB TV. A key feature of SPB TV is the amazing user experience for the user. It includes an integrated TV guide to list programming information, Picture-In-Picture channel surfing, quick channel selection and much more.

TS : Who’s using SPB TV now?
SJS : We launched the largest mobile TV network in November 2008 with a WCDMA 3G operator named Skylink in Russia. Today we are in discussions with other telcos in Asia and one is expected to go live within the next two months. At the same time, we have over hundred thousand users today from all over the world who have installed the SPB TV client on their phones. These users buy the software online and view live TV direct from our hosted streaming servers in the US and Europe.

TS : This sounds impressive. So what makes SPB TV different from other solutions?
SJS : Aside from the user experience already mentioned above, the complete SPB TV solution is really cost-effective, tested platform that is highly scalable to meet increasing demand. And most importantly the investment is much less than broadcast mobile TV so the operator can see a much better return on investment and better usage of funds. Maybe they can spend more on content licensing to offer better programs which could do well in generating increased revenue.

TS : How do you think SPB TV will fit in Vietnamese market?
SJS : 3G brings the expectation of speed, faster, better bandwidth. Things that you now do your PC can now be done while on the move and anywhere. We see the trend of users migrating to Smartphones for the very reason that they want to do more with their phones hence we believe that TV will be one of the valued services that consumers want.

TS : What are your plans then for Vietnam?
SJS : We are looking obviously to offer our solution to the market in Vietnam and this could come in many forms and are happy to work with local partners who can value-add to our offering.

Our thanks to our partners Spb Software for their invaluable support and sponsor for our June 29, 2009 event. Spb Software will share with us more about new trend in Mobile TV. Come and join us at June 29, 2009 at Venus Restaurant, Hanoi. Don't missed it!

Photo: Adrian Stewart, Spb Software