The video clips will be delivered via MMS technology, and will arrive as files under 100 Kb in size, which SingTel Optus claims allows up to 30 seconds of video. Initially SingTel Optus plans to offer some Channel Seven news feeds and movie previews from Web site Urban Cinefile. The quality of video won't be as impressive as over a 3G network, but SingTel Optus is unperturbed by this.
"We've tested [GPRS video streaming products and downloads] with our customers and they say it's pretty acceptable," Allen Lew, the managing director of SingTel Optus Mobile, told ZDNet Australia . Video streaming will be charged at Optus' mobile data rates.
The video is played over a mobile version of RealOne, and third party content providers will be able to make their products available to the network. SingTel Optus also plans a downloadable Java application which will allow their customers to use their mobile phones to search the Internet. The phones initially associated with the launch are the Sony Ericsson P800 and the Nokia 3650.
The move is widely regarded as an attempt to pre-empt Hutchison's 3G commercial rollout which is expected over the next few months, although SingTel Optus has backed away from claims that 3G will not provide anything that cannot be achieved through 2.5G.
"We are going to trial our 3G network in July this year with some customers," said Lew. "We're working 3G into our plans." The trial will cover the Sydney CBD through to Chatswood, and will be testing applications Lew believes will differentiate 3G from 2.5G, although he would not detail what those applications were.
