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As for when will the move to the DVB-H standard take place for mobile TV, the Nokia spokesperson said that DVB-H is gathering significant momentum globally a standard for mobile TV. He elaborated that the ETSI recently announced that DVB-H would be adopted for as the standard for mobile TV services in Europe. "DVB-H is also under discussion in many other global standardization bodies. In the UK, ntl's Broadcast division and O2 have announced the UK's first usability trial of multi-channel TV to mobile phones. In Finland, broadcast, content and mobile communications companies, including Nokia, have come together to implement a pilot that will test a commercial broadcast service for mobile devices. Mobile TV trials were also conducted in Germany last year," added Kanjilal.
Kejriwal agreed that some parts of the world, namely Europe, have adopted the DVB standard, as it is largely believed to drive the convergence of broadcast and mobile services. He said: "Elsewhere, other non-DVB markets have developed their own standards for mobile TV transmission. In fact, we have also done a lot of research into the area as to what the market needs in terms of technology and what would tickle the interest of channels to come in for this. The observation is that it will not be an impulsive move to any standard as we can always deploy one or the other standard suiting our market needs. For more on DVB-H, we find that DVB-H-based mobile TV services initially depend on two separate networks -- terrestrial broadcast and mobile networks. This dual-network structure for the mobile network operators has its own USPs. So, before deciding the time for this move, we should also debate on the reason for this move. But yes, the move should always be toward open standards."
He gave examples such as Sydney-based Bridge Networks, which is likely to conduct Australia's first trial of DVB-H technology in mid-2005. In the United States, Crown Castle and Nokia will pilot DVB-H to bring TV-like services to mobile devices. The pilot started last October in the Pittsburgh area, and it aims to prove and test the feasibility of DVB-H and related service systems in the United States. Later on, the pilot will be expanded to test consumer experiences and acceptance of mobile phone TV service.
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