China to Step Up Mobile Broadcasting for Olympics

China’s government intends to ramp up mobile digital broadcasting for the Olympics, according to Forbes. The publication says Chinese gear makers already have plans to turn out receivers with 4.3-inch screens.

Public trials in 35 cities are planned to begin in April. The government hopes to have the service available in 65 cities when the games begin in August.

China, which developed its own DTV transmission standards and formats, has already had some mobile capabilities with analog. Both formats will be accommodated for the Olympics, but the nation is hoping the games do for mobile digital what the 2006 World Cup did for DVB-H in Europe.

In the United States, mobile TV is available primarily in the form of Verizon’s Vcast, which uses MediaFLO transmission technology. Broadcasters, however, are in pursuit of a mobile format of their own so they can transmit local content within their own markets.