Mobile TV auctions

Thomas Husson | December 20, 2006, 06:30 AM

I recently received several calls from journalists about the potential auctions to acquire TV and radio spectrum. I can imagine the nice headlines comparing it to the 3G auctions.

In some countries (particularly UK and Germany), 3G spectrum was attributed for several billion euros. Nothing comparable will ever happen for mobile TV, simply because everybody learns from its past mistakes and because the cost to roll out a dedicated mobile TV broadcast technology will be significantly lower than for the 3G network. The scale is not the same here: a maximum hundred of millions, not billions. Consequently, it is difficult to imagine mobile TV spectrum fees much higher than 50M euros, even if this will vary significantly by country. That being said, the difficulty is still to find the right business models and ecosystems: would broadcasters try to go directly to consumers (see this recent story on BskyB in the Guardian) or will mobile operators invest in a consortium to share infrastructure costs?

This issue is and will be raised in most European countries due to the Digital Dividend Revue, that is to say the fact that the analogue TV frequencies will be freed up by the forthcoming switchover to digital television. The debate is currently hot in the UK, because Ofcom plans radio spectrum sale (see this article from BBC news). However, in this particular case the frequency band (2500-2690 MHz, 2010-2025 MHz et 2290-2300 MHz) is more likely to concern UMTS and WIMAX services, which could fit in BT’ strategy for a mobile come-back.

That being said, the real stake is more about the UHF frequency band (470-862 MHz), which is ideal to roll out a DVB-H network. The bad news is that this spectrum band is not available in many countries. Rolling out a DVB-H network in the L-band could be done sooner but would be more costly. This band is also of interest for HD TV and for local television channels.

So, needless to say, there are huge lobbying pressures today in most European countries. Many players in the UK fear their country could lag behind the rest of Europe. After Italy and Finland, which country will foster the emergence of a dedicated broadcast technology (beyond T-DMB and DAB-IP)? France is currently discussing a law on the future of television and the current government would like the law to be passed before the new presidential election. A trial in the tube was recently conducted and promoted by the French ministry of industry (see this French article from Nathalie Brafman in Le Monde). The objective is to have everything ready for the forthcoming Rugby World Cup to be held in Paris in September 2007. That’s great news and I am sure there will be nice opportunities to market the service. But I also remember the market was supposed to take off with the Football World Cup in Germany. Rugby is far less popular than soccer. Sport is a social event you want to share with friends and family, not on a tiny screen.