European Union commissioner Viviane Reding has urged the Euro-Telecoms industry to come to a collective agreement on MobileTV standards, and suggested that DVB-H should be the norm.
"We are too slow and too uncoordinated to create the right conditions for a quick take-up of mobile TV on a large scale in Europe," said Reding.
"I urge member states to act quickly on this issue as we cannot afford any delays. One thing is clear: without at least some coordination at European level, market fragmentation will prevent a successful take-up of mobile TV in Europe."
“The industry should agree on one single standard. I believe this should be the DVB-H family of standards.” said Reding. She also warned if no agreement was reached soon the Commission would be forced to intervene with regulatory measures.
DVB-H is one of the highest quality standards on offer, and can carry more channels at higher quality than DAB. But it uses spectrum already occupied by analogue TV signals, whereas DAB can use existing digital radio frequencies.
Many European countries, including the UK, Germany, Belgium, and Spain have already deployed mobileTV using DAB digital radio and DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting). Mobile TV in the UK is delivered using DAB-IP, while in Germany the DMB option is the platform for its national mobile TV network. France has just announced its intention to adopt DMB and other EU Member States including Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden are conducting trials or planning to use the DAB/DMB standard. DMB is already being used successfully by millions of devices in Asia.
Reding has set a deadline for the summer, which would give operators enough time to develop and offer products and services in time for the Olympics, to be held in China and the European football championships.
Reding continued "European industry has already developed successful standards in the past, and I am very confident that on the basis of DVB-H, Mobile TV services can develop the economies of scale they need for take-up across Europe and around the world."
"I urge member states to act quickly on this issue as we cannot afford any delays. One thing is clear: without at least some coordination at European level, market fragmentation will prevent a successful take-up of mobile TV in Europe."
“The industry should agree on one single standard. I believe this should be the DVB-H family of standards.” said Reding. She also warned if no agreement was reached soon the Commission would be forced to intervene with regulatory measures.
DVB-H is one of the highest quality standards on offer, and can carry more channels at higher quality than DAB. But it uses spectrum already occupied by analogue TV signals, whereas DAB can use existing digital radio frequencies.
Many European countries, including the UK, Germany, Belgium, and Spain have already deployed mobileTV using DAB digital radio and DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting). Mobile TV in the UK is delivered using DAB-IP, while in Germany the DMB option is the platform for its national mobile TV network. France has just announced its intention to adopt DMB and other EU Member States including Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Sweden are conducting trials or planning to use the DAB/DMB standard. DMB is already being used successfully by millions of devices in Asia.
Reding has set a deadline for the summer, which would give operators enough time to develop and offer products and services in time for the Olympics, to be held in China and the European football championships.
Reding continued "European industry has already developed successful standards in the past, and I am very confident that on the basis of DVB-H, Mobile TV services can develop the economies of scale they need for take-up across Europe and around the world."