UK wrestles with mobile TV as 3G video struggles

摘要

The UK continues to grapple with difficult issues surrounding the launch of mobile broadcast television as arguments take place over spectrum, content, technology and the impact of European regulation. At the same time, mobile video services delivered over 3G mobile networks have disappointed rather than impressed. One leading programme producer said that content companies and consumers "have been failed by the network operators". A Westminster Media Forum event last week sought to unravel the knotty issues surrounding the implementation of mobile television in the UK, but raised more questions than answers. Christophe Forax, member of the cabinet of information society commissioner Viviane Reding, defended the European Commission's stance on mobile television, which includes promoting a "single standard transmission" technology, taken in many quarters as mandating the DVB-H system (NMM July 20, 2007). Forax claimed that a "light-touch" policy from Brussels gave legal certainty to allow the sector to flourish while promoting the European agenda. But Sheila Cassells, head of economic policy at pay-television broadcaster BSkyB, questioned whether the touch of regulation would be as light as Forax suggested. Mobile television is expected to come under the remit of the new Audiovisual Media Services directive (AVMS).