The European Commission has added the DVB-H mobile-TV specification to the European Union’s list of official standards. Tailored to the specific requirements of handheld, battery-powered receivers, DVB-H is an offshoot of the terrestrial DVB-T system already employed by digital-TV broadcasters in Europe.
The EC believes deployment of a single technology across EU nations will give wireless operators the market scale they need to launch mobile-TV services in time for this year’s broadcasts of the European Football Championship and the Summer Olympic Games.
The EC “is firmly convinced that 2008 is the right time to create conditions favorable to the rapid takeoff of mobile broadcasting,” said EU commissioner Viviane Reding. “Without this certainty and predictability, it will be impossible to invest with confidence in new innovative technologies.”
The Next Steps
Spearheaded by Nokia and backed by Motorola, Philips, Sony Ericsson and Samsung, DVB-H is the world’s most widely used mobile-TV spec. Services based on the spec are currently between trials and commercial launches in 16 countries. A commercial service is also in the works for Russia.
However, several key steps are still needed to put DVB-H on the high-growth track. Reding said the main patent holders still need “to finalize an agreement over the licensing terms and conditions and the constitution of the patent pool.”
Digital-rights management systems based on open technologies also need to be finalized, Reding said. “We also cannot allow commercial launches to be delayed because of legal vacuums or overly burdensome regulation,” she added.
A Global Opportunity
Europe’s move to embrace DVB-H is a setback for rival technologies such as Qualcomm’s competing MediaFLO technology, which has already been embraced by U.S wireless carriers AT&T and Verizon Wireless. However, the EC’s adoption of DVB-H as a standard is not compulsory, so EU nations still have the option of permitting…