Swisscom's DVB-H mobile TV

Swisscom has launched its mobile television service, Bluewin TV mobile, in Switzerland to become one of the first European providers to offer high-quality television experience to its mobile customers.

Working together, Nokia and Nokia Siemens Networks enabled this service with their leading-edge mobile TV technology, services and expertise.

Bluewin TV mobile was launched on May 13 with quality comparable to that of the customers’ home TV. The service is made available through a network based on the Digital Video Broadcast for Handheld (DVB-H) standard and can be watched on DVB-H-enabled mobile devices. Swisscom provides its customers with a range of subscription plans and Nokia N77 devices.

Swisscom press release

EU backs Nokia standard for mobile TV

The European Commission moved to simplify the nascent mobile phone TV sector by adopting a standard backed by Finland's Nokia, but mobile operators said Brussels was acting too quickly. Reuters reports.

"The Commission said setting the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld (DVB-H) as the preferred European Union standard would give the industry a boost.

"For mobile TV to take off in Europe, there must first be certainty about the technology," European Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding said in a statement on Monday.

DVB-H is the only standard with a global presence although South Korea, Japan, the United States and China are embracing local rivals, such as one set by U.S. company Qualcomm".

Reding’s mobile TV plans under fire

A drive by the European Commission to endorse a single technology for TV broadcasts on mobile phones has come under fire from Germany, Britain and the Netherlands. The FT reports.

She wants to put DVB-H on a list of official European standards, and could as soon as next year compel countries to use only this technology for mobile television, in the case of market failure.

But several member states object to any move to make the system obligatory, according to a paper seen by the Financial Times. Instead, they argue that the nascent market should develop on its own."

Nokia, Samsung agree on joint mobile TV standards

Nokia said on Monday it had agreed to work with Samsung Electronics to boost open standards in mobile television, based on its favored DVB-H technology. Reuters reports.

"Cellphone makers and mobile operators alike are keen to tap the potentially lucrative market in phones that receive television, but the take-up of services has been held back by fragmentation of the technologies on offer.

There are half a dozen competing systems.

Nokia said it and Samsung plan to make their DVB-H mobiles work with the same standards as the Nokia network services system. They would work on using the OMA BCAST standard for mobile operators, the statement said."

Switzerland Tests Mobile TV Service

Swisscom Broadcast is starting trials of Mobile TV later this week, in a trial that is due to run until the end of January, reports Cellular News. "During the trial, some 200 people in the city of Berne will be testing mobile TV via DVB-H technology.

... During the trial, the participants will have a Nokia N92 mobile phone at their disposal on which up to 17 TV channels and three to four radio channels can be received depending on the mobile operator. An electronic programme guide will help them make their choices.

In June this year, Italy became the first European country to make mobile TV commercially available via DVB-H. Trials are currently being carried out in many countries apart from Switzerland - in Europe these include Belgium, Germany, Spain, the UK and Poland."

Nokia and Motorola to work together on mobile TV interoperability

In an effort to encourage greater adoption of broadcast mobile TV services and accelerate service deployment, Motorola and Nokia today announced that they will work to achieve interoperability among their DVB-H enabled mobile devices and network services. [via the 3G Portal]

Nokia plans new mobile TV trial

Reuters reports that Nokia will launch a commercial mobile TV trial with radio and TV operator Teracom in Sweden later this year.

"The test, to be run in Stockholm from October to December, will allow 400 consumers to watch 14 TV channels and listen to four radio channels using Nokia N92 mobiles, the Finnish company said in a statement.

Nokia said it also would supply the broadcast system for the pilot scheme, using DVB-H (digital video broadcasting handheld) technology, which bypasses regular telecoms networks by broadcasting directly to mobile phones."

Nokia building dedicated mobile TV network

Digit News reports that Nokia will offer a service management product for Digita Oy's DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld) network.

"Digita is building the network, which can be used by mobile operators to deliver mobile TV to mobile phone users.

Some operators already offer mobile TV but they typically do so by streaming the content over broadband 3G networks. Many operators say they're interested in migrating the services to dedicated networks, like the one Digita is building, so that they can reserve bandwidth on their 3G networks for other services and to offer higher quality mobile TV."

Finland to license commercial mobile TV service

Finland has become the first European country to issue a licence for a commercial TV service for mobile phones, the Finnish News Agency reports, via The Register.

"The Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communications announced on Monday that it will start accepting applications for a licence. The service will be based on DVB-H (digital video broadcasting - handheld) transmission technology. Finland is one of many countries experimenting with TV on mobile phones. In Helsinki around 500 people were involved in a pilot in the Helsinki metropolitan area last spring, which was favourably received."

Italian RAI TV is ready to broadcast on mobiles

Speaking at a round table meeting held in Rome, Italian television RAI's president Claudio Petruccioli announced that RAI is ready to broadcast some of its programmes on mobile phones using the new 'Dvb-h' system. [via AGI online

Swisscom launches DVB-H trial

Between now and the end of the year Swisscom Broadcast and Swisscom Mobile will be carrying out a technical trial of the new digital standard DVB-H (digital video broadcasting-handheld), reports DMeurope.

"Around 100 people are testing the mobile television technology. Over a three-month period, the test participants will have access to some 26 different television channels and basic interactive services on a Nokia 7710 smart-phone.

This is the first technical DVB-H trial in Switzerland. To date, the only comparable trials in Europe have been in Berlin and Helsinki. The DVB-H standard has also been undergoing trials in Italy, France, the United Kingdom and Spain since September 2005. "

Nokia sees new mobile TV networks by mid-2006

Mobile phone giant Nokia expects mobile TV networks using its chosen standard to be up and running by the middle of next year, allowing people to watch live TV broadcasts on their cellphones, reports Reuters.

"The system -- Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) -- is being tested in about 40 pilots worldwide and Nokia's Anssi Vanjoki said on Wednesday he expects networks to go live in the first half of 2006.

Nokia said it would make the technology a regular feature on its multimedia mobiles, allowing users to watch broadcasters' programs directly rather than rebroadcast by telecom firms."

Cellphone TV gets good reception

"Cellphone giant Nokia last month passed a milestone in the drive to introduce mobile TV when it completed the most extensive trial to date of the technology, reports New Scientist.

"This week, the company released a report on its trial of the mobile TV system, known as Digital Video Broadcast-Handset (DVB-H), with Finnish state broadcaster YLE.

The six-month trial in the Finnish capital Helsinki culminated in live coverage of the World Athletics Championships there last month. It successfully demonstrated that the technology can deliver sharp, steady pictures with clear stereo sound to people on the move".

Danish public broadcaster, TDC, Nokia, Motorola test TV for mobile phones

TDC AS, Nokia Corp, Motorola Inc and Danish public service broadcaster Danmarks Radio (DR) belong to a consortium that will carry out pilot tests for broadcasting TV to mobile phones, the Danish website Computerworld Online said, reports Forbes.

"The technology, Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H), is one of the standards for future digital television systems, the report said.

It will enable mobile phones to receive 20-25 TV channels.

Nokia and Motorola will provide mobile phones for the tests, TDC will supply telephony services and DR the broadcast service, Computerworld Online said."

Mobile TV tests cartoons and news

The UK's first trial of TV on mobiles will start with programmes ranging from music videos, to cartoons and news, reports the BBC.

"The trials by NTL Broadcast and 02 start in Oxford from July and will run for six months to test 16 channels.

All 350 testers will be able to see shows from the Discovery Channel, CNN, the Cartoon Network and a short-film channel called Shorts International.

The testers in Oxford will all use the Nokia 7710 handset. It is a widescreen multimedia smartphone, released earlier this year, which is able to receive digital TV signals.

DVB-H (digital video broadcast - handheld) is a standard which has been specifically developed for the broadcast of TV signals on mobiles and other handheld devices.

It lets mobiles, which have special requirements because of screen size and battery life, handle TV signals in real-time.

The DVB-H standard is currently being tested by US, Germany, France, Finland, Sweden and others. More trials expected to launch later in 2005 and throughout 2006.

But DVB-H is in competition with another mobile TV technology called Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB).

The Japanese, South Koreans and Ericsson of Sweden back DMB because they say the technology drain batteries even less and it handles more frames a second."