Bruce M. W.

I approached Bridge Networks, owned by Broadcast Australia, proposed and secured their co-operation in the first Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld (DVB-H) pilot in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nokia’s Multimedia Business Unit management were then approached and their support was secured as this trial was needed to promote the DVB-H platform within the APAC region after European trial success.

With Broadcast Australia’s assistance, the then Federal Minister for Communications… Show more

I approached Bridge Networks, owned by Broadcast Australia, proposed and secured their co-operation in the first Digital Video Broadcast - Handheld (DVB-H) pilot in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nokia’s Multimedia Business Unit management were then approached and their support was secured as this trial was needed to promote the DVB-H platform within the APAC region after European trial success.

With Broadcast Australia’s assistance, the then Federal Minister for Communications supported the trial and a trial licence was granted by the ACMA for a period of 18 months.

Telstra joined as the mobile operator partner, along with content being supplied by Foxtel, CNN, ABC, SBS and the commercial FTA Channel’s TEN, NINE and SEVEN.

Nokia provided the Network System Equipment at a reduced cost as well as the special N7710 handsets complete with the DVB-H accessory receiver.

The receivers were supplied to selected Telstra customers free of charge.

Smart Communications from the Philippines were invited to inspect the pilot and see its results. After meeting with the Smart Engineering Network Group and Senior Management the decision was decided to progress with a commercial trial in Manila and the resort island of Cebu after gaining approval from the regulator the NTC. Again the network equipment was provided by Nokia at cost along with the handsets for the trial.

Another DVB-H demonstration was secured in Auckland for a two week period working with the local broadcast infrastructure operator, Kordia. The aim of this demo was to show the NZ Government the possibilities of Digital TV. The content support came from Sky Television,TVNZ and TV3 with the Vodafone network being utilised for the cellular requirements.

Another public demonstration was run in Kuala Lumpur with Maxis Communications and MEASAT (Astro) to cover the countries National Day celebrations. The aim of this demonstration was to again demonstrate DVB-H to the Regulator and other Government representatives. Show less

As the Business Unit Manager for Nokia Home Communications and responsible for the promotion of Nokia’s Digital TV products in Australia I proposed running a DVB-T Demonstration during the Sydney Olympics.

I received overwhelming support from Nokia for this Mobility Demonstration and secured a partnership with the National Olympic Broadcaster Channel 7. The live signal would be received from Channel 7's demonstration transmitter at Chatswood, Sydney,

Nokia committed to developing… Show more

As the Business Unit Manager for Nokia Home Communications and responsible for the promotion of Nokia’s Digital TV products in Australia I proposed running a DVB-T Demonstration during the Sydney Olympics.

I received overwhelming support from Nokia for this Mobility Demonstration and secured a partnership with the National Olympic Broadcaster Channel 7. The live signal would be received from Channel 7's demonstration transmitter at Chatswood, Sydney,

Nokia committed to developing a specific receiver for this demonstration, the first available in the world for Australia’s unique broadcast specification.

As the project lead I worked with Channel 7 to install digital receivers in buses being utilised by Channel 7. The initial proposal was to also have receivers installed in Sydney buses from the Bondi depot, but due to a single union organiser rejecting the proposal at the 11th hour, another partner was needed to get the full coverage.

Westpac was approached and they jumped at the chance to be able to provide live Olympic coverage to their corporate guests while travelling to the different venues.

During the demonstration, the DVB.org requested that representatives from Brazilian and Argentinian TV networks were provided a separate demonstration, as they were investigating the different Global Digital TV Standards. 

To prove the robustness of the system this demonstration was performed utilising a special vehicle used for Nokia’s network testing and they were taken to various areas of Sydney where it was known that the analogue TV signals were non-existent.

I also commissioned a video to document the implementation and running of the demonstration for the Nokia Management and this was utilised by them to further promote the DVB-T Standard.
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In 1996, Nokia achieved the number one position in the Australian market and with the concentration on the development of Digital Cellular devices, a local decision was made to stop supplying Analogue (AMPS) handsets in 1997, two years before the official shutdown of the AMPS network at the end of 1999.

The issue that presented itself was the AMPS handsets were quite simple when compared to the GSM handsets that were being sold at the time. I put forward a proposal that our strategy… Show more

In 1996, Nokia achieved the number one position in the Australian market and with the concentration on the development of Digital Cellular devices, a local decision was made to stop supplying Analogue (AMPS) handsets in 1997, two years before the official shutdown of the AMPS network at the end of 1999.

The issue that presented itself was the AMPS handsets were quite simple when compared to the GSM handsets that were being sold at the time. I put forward a proposal that our strategy should be to develop a digital version of our top selling AMPS phone so as to make the transition to digital easier for consumers.

My proposal was the product needed to be based on an existing GSM handset, have minimal cosmetic changes along with changes to the user interface. The Nokia 1610 was the chosen phone and the UI was to be based on the highly popular Nokia 101 AMPS phone.

To ensure the project went ahead, buy in from the local operators was required and after the ideas and device mock-ups were presented, one of the operators agreed to support the product as long as they had exclusivity on the device and Nokia had to have a commitment on a minimum of 140,000 handsets.
An Agreement was reached but deliveries had to start for the end of 1997 year sales cycle, giving a project time of 6 months.

The project plan was presented to Nokia's management in Finland and the go-ahead was received, enlisting the local Nokia R&D group in the software development.

The project met all its milestones and was tactically successful, Finland was happy because the project broke even and achieved what I proposed, namely, Nokia’s position as the leading digital phone supplier and number one in the market.

There was no damage to the reputation of our other phones in the market, a concern expressed by the marketing manager, but, in fact this project actually assisted in selling more of the aspirational models.

Nokia remained number one in the Australian market until 2011. Show less