Europe Backs Single Mobile Video Standard

The European Commission has made DVB-H an official EU standard.

"For Mobile TV to take off in Europe, there must first be certainty about the technology. This is why I am glad that with today's decision, taken by the Commission in close coordination with the Member States and the European Parliament, the E.U. endorse DVB-H as the preferred technology for terrestrial mobile broadcasting," said Viviane Reding, E.U. commissioner for the Information Society and Media. The next steps for implementing the EU strategy on mobile broadcasting will include guidance on the authorisation regimes as well as the promotion of rights management systems based, as is DVB-H, on open standards"

As Reding stated, DVB-H is "the preferred technology," but its use is not mandated and other systems, most notably T-DMB, are expected to remain in use on the continent.

The European DVB-H standard is backed by Nokia, Motorola, Philips, Sagem, Sony, Ericsson and Samsung as well as operators Vodafone, and T-Mobile, among others. See www.dvb.org for more information.