Information Society Industry :: Broadcasting :: Mobile > Overview

Television on the Move

Mobile broadcasting promises entirely new markets, products and services for broadcasters, content producers, equipment makers and - of course - consumers. A Europe-wide approach is needed to help Europe's industries seize the opportunity. That's why the EU favours a single European standard for mobile TV services - to create a European Single Market throughout the 27 Member States.

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The opportunities for European broadcasters, mobile network operators, content providers and equipment suppliers are therefore huge. Mobile TV could potentially be a market of up to 20 billion euro by 2011, reaching 500 million customers worldwide.

"Mobile broadcasting is a tremendous opportunity for Europe to maintain and expand its leadership in mobile technology and audiovisual services", Viviane Reding, Commissioner for Information Society and Media

Unfortunately until now, the introduction and take-up of mobile TV in the EU has been slow. The penetration rate in South Korea, for example, is close to 10%, while European leader Italy has only a penetration rate of less than 1%.

Only a common European strategy for mobile TV combining cutting edge research and efficient regulation, actively promoted by all Member States and stakeholders, will enable consumers and industry to reap the full benefits of economies of scale. An efficient single market for mobile TV services will be crucial to create jobs and business opportunities for content creators, service providers and hardware manufacturers.

The Commission wants to put in place a light touch regulatory approach favouring investment, innovation and competition in this emerging market. To facilitate and accelerate the deployment of mobile TV, the Commission will promote a common standard - DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds). To reduce market fragmentation caused by multiple technical options. Member States are encouraged to the use of DVB-H in all 27 Member States.

One issue potentially benefiting from a European approach is the availability of radio spectrum for these networks and services. The switchover from analogue to digital TV, expected by 2012, should release some spectrum for promising new digital applications. Therefore Member States should make some of the freed spectrum available for mobile broadcasting as quickly as possible. Ensuring Europe's mobile TV market is not fragmented into national markets will avoid hobbling European industry globally.

Finally, the services will never be popular without compelling content and services. These may be existing content, adapted to the new platform, or entirely new forms which take advantage of its possibilities, such as location-based services. Either way, Europe's content and software developers need to adapt to the new medium.

Further Details and Quicklinks

Policies
Activities
See Also

Relevant Policies

i2010: the 'Single European Information Space' pillar combines regulatory and other instruments to create a modern, market-oriented regulatory framework, including:

Electronic Communications: Europe's rules for electronic communications are pro-competitive, stimulating investment to create new services and driving prices down;
The European Commission adopted a strategy favouring the take-up of mobile TV across the 27 EU Member States. The strategy favours a common European standard for mobile TV - DVB-H.
Radio Spectrum Policy: radio spectrum is a scarce resource, vital to all forms of wireless technology. It must be coordinated at the European level if Europe's communications industry is to achieve Single Market economies of scale;
To accelerate the switchover to digital TV, Member States are supposed to publish national switchover plans
Audiovisual Policies: overhauling Europe's television industries for a converged world...

Relevant Activities

Research: see the Research & Innovation theme for an introduction to EU Research, browse some relevant Example Projects, or jump straight to the following sites:

Pervasive and Trusted Network and Service Infrastructures - one of the seven main Challenges for ICT research under the Seventh Research Framework Programme (2007-2013)
Strategic Objectives under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6, 2002-2006) included:

Other Activities:

eContentplus: making digital content in Europe more accessible, usable and exploitable;
MEDIA Programme: aims at strengthening the competitiveness of Europe’s audiovisual industry. See in particular the programme's pilot projects;
ICT Policy Support Programme (or ICT PSP): stimulating innovation and competitiveness through the wider uptake and best use of ICT based services by citizens, governments and businesses.

See Also

Highlights from the Mobile Broadcasting Newsroom and Library

Press Factsheet: Mobile Television - The EU switches on (14 March 2007)
News: Harmonising radio spectrum paves the way for advanced mobile satellite services (20 February 2007)
Press Factsheet: Mobile Television and EU-funded research (6 March 2006)
Factsheet 23: Stimulating Mobile Broadband (January 2006)
For the latest relevant news, publications and more from the Newsroom & Library, see right hand column, or select IS Industry when you subscribe to the Portal Newsroom Update

Also of interest:

Content and Services theme: mobile TV will require compelling content and services adapted to the new platform.

Last Updated July 2007