Norwegian Broadcasters Align for Mobile TV Venture

OSLO, August 18: Norway’s
three largest broadcasters—NRK, TV 2 and MTG—have cofounded a new
company that will launch mobile TV via DMB this winter, offering nine live TV
channels as well as on-demand content.

The new company, Norsk
mobil-TV (NMTV), will begin its broadcasts in Oslo, covering 30 percent of the
Norwegian population. The license-funded Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation
(NRK) said that DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) is seen as the best
technology in Norway due to cost-efficient coverage of large and rural areas.
DMB receivers are also compatible with DAB (digital radio) that currently
covers 80 percent of the population in Norway.

Gunnar Garfors, the
director of developments at NRK, said: "This marks the start of real
mobile TV. This is not about ‘mobile phone TV’ it is about mobile TV that can
be received by other devices too. Our goal is to make mobile TV widely
available, easy to use and free of charge.”

—By Kristin
Brzoznowski