Est. 2min 02-04-2008 (updated: 28-05-2012 ) Euractiv is part of the Trust Project >>> Languages: Français | DeutschPrint Email Facebook X LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Football fans everywhere may discover a new way to enjoy the next European Championships just by looking at the screen of their own mobile phones. The European Commission hopes that mobile television will finally take off in Europe, driven by the summer’s sport, but uncertainty still dominates. To benefit from the momentum offered by the European football tournament in June and by the Olympic Games in August, the Commission will “in a few weeks’ time” issue a range of best practices adopted in the EU states to “lightly” regulate mobile television – a service primarily seen as most appropriate for coverage of sport events. Brussels invokes a “light-touch regulatory environment” which should avoid imposing excessive obligations to a service which is still “nascent”, although it expected to have a bright future. Consulting firm McKinsey reckons that mobile TV could have more than 190 million users across Europe by 2015, with a total value of 24 billion euros. The Commission’s plans also foresee the reservation of part of the UHF spectrum for pan-European mobile services to enable a customer of an Austrian or Italian operator to watch TV on his handset when he is in Germany or France. The telecoms industry agrees with the idea of reserving UHF bands to mobile services, but does not consider it necessary to have exactly the same frequencies across different member states. They consider roaming for mobile TV more suitable, even if leaves open the issue of cross-border copyright of the use of content. Indeed, agreements among EU national operators are considered feasible since they are already in place for phone calls. But so far there are only a few examples of the protection of property rights for content transmitted across borders in Europe, which could pose a problem in the eyes of telecoms operators. What seems certain at present is that in future mobile TV – currently only a reality in Italy, Finland and partially Germany and the UK, will be transmitted on handsets able to offer both free-to-air and on-demand services with broadcast and unicast technologies, such as DVB-H and 3G respectively. Read more with Euractiv Parliament stresses role of public services in spectrum reformThe public role of television should be protected in the allocation of radio frequencies made available by the changeover from analogue to digital TV, MEPs argued in a Parliament hearing yesterday (27 March). Positions Information Society Commissioner Viviane Reding announced last month that "the next steps for implementing the EU strategy on mobile broadcasting will include guidance on the authorisation regimes as well as the promotion of rights management systems based, as is DVB-H, on open standards". Yesterday a Commission official underlined during a hearing organised by the Culture Committee of the European Parliament that a document setting out EU best practice for light regulation regimes is expected "in a few weeks time". Andy Motley of Telefonica O2 Europe highlighted the importance of UHF band availability if mobile TV is to take off. "It must not necessarily be the same band in every EU country but it has to be UHF," he said. Talking about the cost of mobile TV for customers, Jan Trionow of Hutchinson 3G Austria said that is foreseeable that operators "will not offer free access to the service but will ask [customers] to subscribe to TV bundles, which will make it more difficult to receive TV channels in another country". He underlined that even if roaming for mobile TV is technically not a problem, there is still the issue of "content rights to screen national programmes abroad". Oliver Werner of the German public TV channel ARD stressed that "public services broadcasting operators should have adequate access to networks" in the future scenario. "There will be no digital dividend without the switchover carried out by broadcasters," he added. BackgroundIn 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 for a balanced reallocation of the radio frequencies that will 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). Timeline In a few weeks' time, the Commission will present a set of regulatory best practices for mobile TV. June 2008: Expected launch of mobile TV in Austria ahead of the European Championships. 12 June 2008: The EU Telecommunications Council expresses its opinion on the Commission's proposals to reform the telecoms sector. July 2008: Parliament votes on the telecoms package review. Further ReadingEuropean Union European Commission:Communication on Mobile TV(18 July 2007) European Commission:FAQ on Mobile TV(18 July 2007) European Commission:Commission endorses DVB-H as EU standard(17 March 2008) [FR] [FR] [DE]
