European Commission Endorses DVB-H Standard

BRUSSELS, March 18: The
European Commission has endorsed the Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld
(DVB-H) standard in a bid to accelerate the rollout of mobile TV services
across the region.

DVB-H has been added to
the EU List of Standards as the Commission works toward establishing a single
market for mobile TV in Europe. "For Mobile TV to take off in Europe,
there must first be certainty about the technology,” said Viviane Reding, the
EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media. “This is why I am glad
that with today's decision, taken by the Commission in close coordination with
the Member States and the European Parliament, the EU endorse DVB-H as the
preferred technology for terrestrial mobile broadcasting. The next steps for
implementing the EU strategy on mobile broadcasting will include guidance on
the authorization regimes as well as the promotion of rights-management systems
based, as is DVB-H, on open standards.”

The adoption of a common
standard is an attempt to give providers the necessary scale to launch a
commercially successful mobile TV service. It will also benefit consumers, who
will be able to watch TV on their phones across the European member states,
which will now be required to encourage the use of DVB-H.

DVB-H is currently the
most widely used standard for mobile TV in the EU. It is between trials and a
commercial launch in 16 countries. Commercial DVB-H services are already
available in Italy, with further launches expected later this year in Finland,
Austria, France, Switzerland and Spain.

—By Mansha Daswani