Mobiles Fernsehen: Kommission unterstützt nationale Regulierungsbehörden[en] 

In July 2007, the European Commission presented a Communication aimed at strengthening the market for mobile television across Europe. A common standard, a dedicated portion of the radio spectrum and a light and harmonised regulatory environment were the main measures included in the document.

In November, Brussels proposed a review of the telecoms package, including suggestions to member states on a balanced reallocation of the radio frequencies that are to be freed up by the switchover to digital, foreseen by 2012. The UHF band was defined as "the most suitable" for mobile services (see our Links Dossier on the telecoms package review).

Last March, the Commission decided to include DVB-H in the list of European standards, paving the way for national endorsements of the technology, already the most used in the EU. Member states have been "encouraged" to adopt the standard. Compulsory measures are not excluded in the future (see EurActiv 18/03/08).

Austria, Switzerland and the Netherlands are expected to launch their national mobile TV services in the coming weeks, according to several analysts. These will join the services already in place in Finland, the UK, France, Germany and Italy, where mobile TV made its EU debut in 2006.

Mobile TV services already represent a mature market in Eastern Asian countries, in particular in South Korea and Japan, and the Commission wants the EU to follow suit. Indeed, the EU executive considers mobile TV as a “great business opportunity” but also a means to increase the use of cross-border TV programs, according to Bernd Langeheine, Director of Electronic Communications Policy at the Commission.

Brussels is thus doing everything in its power to pave the way for the take-off of the new service. After agreeing on a common EU technological standard for mobile TV and informally reserving parts of the very coveted UHF band for mobile broadcasting (see the background), the Commission will now soon come up with a set of guidelines to advise national regulators.

Brussels will suggest avoiding regional regulations, as is taking place in Germany, arguing that fragmenting the national market hampers the development of emerging TV mobile services. “We are definitely in favour of a one-stop-shopping system”, said Langeheine during a conference on mobile business organised in Brussels by the Financial Times.

The official added the Commission will propose that national regulators take into account all the different actors interested in the mobile TV business, including Telecom operators, TV broadcasters, pay-TV services providers. The Brussels Executive will also discourage the adoption of must-carry obligations, which force transmission networks to guarantee access to certain broadcasting channels, usually public.

Such must-carry obligations are in place in analog TV systems, but can be progressively phased-out with the advent of digital television which allows a higher level of competition. Mobile TV is considered a nascent market and the Commission proposes the lightest possible regulation.

Bernd Langeheine, Director of Electronic Communications Policy at the Commission, underlined that a working document will be soon released providing guidelines to national regulator on mobile TV. “Mobile handsets have already allowed a personalized telephony, and they can now drive a personalization of TV watching”, he said speaking at the FT Business of Mobile conference in Brussels.

Claus Sattler, Executive Director of the Broadcast Mobile Convergence Forum (bmcforum), an international organisation promoting worldwide deployment of mobile TV services, commented: “Regulatory issues are the first hurdle. It is time for regulators to come up with proposals”, he said regretting the lack of a regulatory framework for mobile TV in France, the UK, Spain, Portugal and the majority of the Eastern European states.

Dirk Van Bavel, Director of the consumer division of the mobile telecom group Orange, did not seem very concerned for the lack of regulation. “We foresee a 30% growth of the market in the next three years. Our users of mobile TV have already passed from an average continuative use of 17 minutes to 81 minutes”.