Brussels issues guidelines to boost mobile TV 

As she told EurActiv in an earlier interview (EurActiv 6/11/08), Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding yesterday published a long-awaited list of best practice for helping mobile television spread across Europe, after a range of failed attempts by the vast majority of member states.

At the moment, just four EU countries - Italy, Finland, Austria and the Netherlands - have seen significant take-up of mobile television, which has been widespread in other parts of the world for years, especially in Eastern Asia.

Nevertheless, appetite is increasing for the new service, for which revenues are expected to grow up to almost €8 billion in 2013, according to figures published by the Commission. "With predicted growth in sales during the Christmas period, many more Europeans should have the opportunity to watch TV on the go," commented  Commissioner Reding.

Ultimate decisions on how to allocate frequencies and on regulatory issues rest with member states, but the EU executive is eager to show the way to facilitate common approaches and cross-border services (EurActiv 20/05/08).

Brussels therefore made clear that mobile operators as well as broadcasters should be able to compete on a level playing field to develop the new service. Granting licenses should be based on the quality of services delivered, such as indoor coverage or transmission quality, the Commission indicated.

As a result, frequencies will be withdrawn when services have not started "within a reasonable period of time," according to Brussels. Moreover, interoperable, non-proprietary technologies should be chosen to facilitate consumer service mobility and cross-border applications, the Commission indicated.

All these measures, if consistently applied in all member states, are expected to create a genuine market for mobile TV in Europe, with the potential of spreading EU-wide services, products and standards far beyond European borders, which has already happened with the successful GSM standard for mobile telephony. Indeed, the DVB-H standard adopted by the Commission in March 2008 for terrestrial mobile TV has been endorsed by Indonesia, Russia and Morocco, among others (EurActiv 18/03/08).

Despite these efforts, many doubt the effectiveness and consistency of Brussels' moves to support mobile TV. European digital industry lobbies are attacking the Commission for pursuing indirect tax increases for sophisticated mobile handsets, which can not only be used as telephones but also as GPS receivers and televisions.

EICTA, which represents the digital industry's major players (like Motorola, Nokia, Siemens, Sony Ericsson, Hitachi, IBM, Microsoft and others), claimed  this week that the Commission was endorsing the application of entry duties of up to 14% on these products. By favouring EU industry, the move could increase prices for consumers for a wide range of handsets, hampering the spread of new mobile TV services, the association said.