Advocates of MediaFlo, the mobile broadcast television standard, are seeking recognition from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the independent body responsible for the standardisation of telecommunications technologies across Europe. Ratification as a European-approved, non-proprietary standard could improve the chances that MediaFlo, developed by US company Qualcomm, would be deployed in the region. This prospect was complicated last week when the European Commission confirmed that it could mandate the use of rival DVB-H technology across Europe as early as next year. The European Commission identified three areas key to the success of mobile television: interoperability around a common standard, to reduce market fragmentation; member states to make available UHF spectrum freed by digital switchover; and a "light touch" regulatory approach. Kamil Grajski, president of the FloForum that promotes MediaFlo technology, said that he "applauded the Commissions efforts to harmonise spectrum and provide light-touch regulation", but was concerned by "either direct or de facto mandating" of one particular standard.
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