Political round up for mobile TV

Thomas Husson | September 25, 2007, 07:22 AM

No less than 3 ministers (Economy, Culture, Entreprise & Commerce) attended yesterday a press conference to officially sign a document saying France would use DVB-H and S DVB-H as broadband mobile TV technologies. Waouh !

Beyond the technology norm (though, it is still unclear to me how satellite and terrestrial would be articulated), it highlights how approaches can differ. There was thus a meeting with all the various stakeholders including CSA (in charge of regulating the audiovisual sector) and ARCEP (equivalent of OFCOM). Yes, in France, we have 2 different regulatory bodies and they do not necessarily share the same view, as the ministers, on the digital dividend...But it is an extremely complex problem, and a political one : who should benefit from a public good (spectrum): broadcasters?, telcos ? how many new jobs will be created, how to make sure rural territories will also benefit from innovation...and finally what will consumers want ?

Anyway, back to mobile TV. The CSA is now in a position to launch the official process and then to select around 15 channels for a launch expected in time for the Beijing Olympics. Chabal ("caveman"), the new French rugby team idol, would have done a better job in promoting mobile TV in France than any world dart championship will ever do (i know there is also the 100 meters race in any good Olympics). But, too late is too late. And at least with Beijing there is a time difference, which makes a good case to watch live !

As stated so many times, our research indicates that live TV will not be mainstream anytime soon. We stated this in a report intitled "Mobile TV: a fragmented market far from critical mass" published back in March 2006. It is interesting to see that some other research companies are less bullish than they used to.

That being said, it is a great thing to have things moving and to see many French players supported: Alcatel, DibCom, TDF, Streamezzo, UDcast...Hence the political round up

At least, stakeholders now have 10 months to agree on an initial cost/risk sharing principle and to decide whether the model should be free, paying or a mix of the 2.

After this cynical post, I will refrain from posting comments since I will start travelling a lot from next week onwards to visit clients and to attend / speak at various conferences. If you want to meet at Mocollywood next week in London, drop me a line.