Addressing the mobile generation's expectation for wireless, broadcast-quality programming, SES AMERICOM, an SES GLOBAL company and Hiwire, a subsidiary of Aloha Partners, announced they will deliver a Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) mobile TV and entertainment trial to consumers in Las Vegas this fall.

The trial service, planned for launch later this year, will deliver twice the channels and higher quality pictures than current mobile TV offerings by leveraging Hiwire's unmatched 12 MHz capacity of UHF spectrum and wireless knowledge, together with SES AMERICOM's robust satellites and distribution platforms, programmer relationships, and experience in IPTV delivery.

"SES AMERICOM's decades of experience in content delivery of cable, broadcast, and, most recently, IPTV programming will help to accelerate the launch of Hiwire's mobile broadcast media business for our inaugural mobile TV trial in Las Vegas," said Charles Townsend, CEO of Aloha Partners, owner of Hiwire. "The combination of SES AMERICOM's ubiquitous satellite-based, hybrid distribution network and Hiwire's wireless spectrum capacity is poised to offer mobile TV consumers more choice, quality and personalized services than they've ever had before."

"Hiwire is what mobile television consumers want on their pocket-sized screens - high resolution, broadcast-quality programming with more channel choices than any other network can provide," said Bryan McGuirk, president of media solutions for SES AMERICOM. "By leveraging our hybrid programming distribution network and IPTV platform, Hiwire is positioned to provide a fresh, unique mobile TV service to video savvy consumers everywhere - beginning with our exciting mobile broadcast TV trial in Las Vegas this fall."

Hiwire's mobile TV programming will originate from SES AMERICOM's IP-PRIMETM IPTV Broadcast Center in Vernon Valley, New Jersey, where content will be aggregated, processed, and prepared in MPEG-4 format for distribution. The reformatted DVB-H content will then be delivered over the SES AMERICOM satellite-based distribution network to Hiwire's broadcast distribution towers, where the local channel lineup will be tailored and distributed over Hiwire's terrestrial 700 MHz spectrum. Hiwire will integrate its media network programming with the infrastructures of participating wireless carriers to provide services to authorized DVB-H cellular handset subscribers.

Hiwire's first service deployment in Las Vegas will feature a variety of high-quality branded TV networks, video content, music and interactive data services delivered to consumers' hand-held devices and cell phones utilizing Hiwire's 700 MHz spectrum.