European Commission Backs DVB-H Mobile TV Standard

BRUSSELS, July 18: The 27 European member states are being
urged to adopt the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting—Handheld) standard
for their mobile TV rollouts.

DVB-H has been used in successful commercial launches and
trials in 18 European countries. The Commission is set to include DVB-H in the
EU's official list of standards and will encourage its use in all 27 member
states. The Commission will follow that progress and mull mandating the use of
DVB-H next year.

The announcement was made by Viviane Reding, the EU’s
Commissioner for Informational Society and Media. In a statement from the
European Commission, Reding noted: "Mobile broadcasting is a tremendous
opportunity for Europe to maintain and expand its leadership in mobile
technology and audiovisual services. Europe is today at a crossroads. We can
either take the lead globally—as we did for mobile telephony based on the
GSM standard developed by the European industry—or allow other regions
take the lion's share of the promising mobile TV market. 'Wait-and-see' is not
an option. The time has come for Europe's industry and governments to switch on
to mobile TV."

The Commission states that unless Europe takes concrete
action immediately, it risks losing its competitive edge; the authority cited
the progress made in Asia, where in advanced markets like Korea mobile TV
penetration stands at 10 percent, as compared with Italy, where that rate is
just 1 percent. The mobile TV market is expected to be worth 20 billion euros
by 2011, reaching almost 500 million customers. To help drive mobile TV take-up
in Europe, the Commission is also calling on member states to make spectrum
available for mobile broadcasting as quickly as possible.

Research firm Datamonitor
estimates Europe will have 42.7 million mobile broadcast TV subscribers in
2012, making it the second largest subscriber base in the world after the Asia
Pacific.