Mobile TV To Reach 120 Million By 2012

Worldwide annual consumer spending on mobile broadcast TV services is expected to exceed $6.6 billion (E4.7bn) by 2012, according to a new report from Juniper Research.
It predicts 120 million mobile users in more than 40 countries are to receive broadcast TV services by 2012, compared to less than 12 million in 2007, with DVB-H the dominant transmission standard. However, the report is cautions that services face significant technological and regulatory hurdles both prior to launch and as they bid to build a critical mass of subscribers.
Dr Windsor Holden said: "While the quasi-mandation of DVB-H by the European Commission is a huge boost to that standard, it does create uncertainty in the minds of those who might regard other technologies as more cost effective and might ultimately be counterproductive as a measure to promote mobile TV per se."
The report also stresses the need for regulators to make optimal UHF spectrum available as soon as is practicably possible, and for vendors to ensure that broadcast TV chipsets are rapidly introduced into a wide range of mass market handsets to facilitate adoption.
(DS)