In the document, which is expected to be published on 10 July 2007, Reding will argue that a single standard for TV to mobile phones across Europe will bring benefits for manufacturers, content providers and consumers, strengthening European industry as a whole.
Reding is expected to argue in favour of the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) standard to be adopted throughout Europe. Industry stakeholders such as the companies organised in the Digital Interoperability Forum argue, however, that industry is best positioned to choose between DVB-H and competing standards, such as DMB, MediaFlo or the MBMS elements in the UMTS specifications.
On 8 March 2006, Commissioner Reding called on the industry to "take the necessary steps to make interoperability possible". On the same occasion, she argued for the first time in favour of "a widely accepted standard - such as GSM for mobile telephony", and for this to be what she described as "the worldwide deployed DVB standard".
In reaction, industry actors set up the European Mobile Broadcasting Council (EMBC), in order "to reach, so far as possible, a common vision for the development and implementation of mobile broadcasting in the EU". In the EMBC's recommendations, which were published in March 2007, no clear need for regulation was stated. Telecom-network operators, manufacturers and content providers alike continue to make a case for competing standards.
The Communication will be a further step towards establishing DVB-H as a European industry standard, Commission sources say, and that this could arrive as early as January or February 2008. A Presidency workshop on "Mobile TV - technology for the future" will take place in the Portuguese city of Alveiro on 9 July 2007.
