Sky team up with Vodafone to offer mobile 3G TV

British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) and Vodafone UK have announced an agreement to launch a mobile TV service in the UK.
From Tuesday, the new service called 'Sky Mobile TV' will bring a wide choice of channels, including 24-hour news channels plus sport, entertainment and documentary programmes, to all Vodafone live! with 3G customers.
The deal between Sky and Vodafone UK marks a significant step forward in the delivery of entertainment and information to mobile phones. Users will be able to enjoy television programmes even when they are on the move and, for the first time, will have around-the-clock access to live breaking news and sports reports from Sky News and Sky Sports News.
From launch, all Vodafone UK customers with 3G handsets will be able to watch Sky Mobile TV on their phones in areas of 3G coverage. There will be two Sky Mobile TV packages offering a combined total of 19 mobile channels including Sky One, Discovery, MTV, History Channel and Biography Channel. Some channels will be broadcast 'as live' and others will be dedicated 'made for mobile' channels, featuring regularly updated blocks of programming.
As a bonus service to celebrate the launch of Sky Mobile TV, Sky is giving all Vodafone live! with 3G customers the chance to watch Sky Sports' live coverage of the England cricket team's tour to Pakistan.
Until the end of January next year each Sky Mobile TV pack will be provided free of charge. From February 2006 customers will be charged £5.00 per month for each of the Sky Mobile TV packs to which they subscribe.
BSkyB Chief Operating Officer Richard Freudenstein said: "Sky wants to give customers the flexibility to access our services in the way that they choose and Vodafone is an ideal partner to help make this happen.
"With Sky Mobile TV, you can now keep up with the latest news, sport and entertainment wherever you are. This is an innovative service that complements our existing pay-TV activities, extends the reach of Sky content and delivers an additional stream of revenue."
Every 3G handset in Vodafone UK's extensive range can receive mobile TV services.
The launch of Sky Mobile TV is part of Sky's drive to give customers flexible and convenient ways to watch its services.
Other 3G service providers, including O2 and Orange are trialling mobile phone TV services.
(SP)