Mobile TV trial shows strong support

News was the most popular viewing category during the mobile TV trial

Preliminary results from a trial of mobile television in Oxford have shown strong support, with over three quarters of the 375 participants indicating that they would subscribe to such a service.

The trial used a mix of digital and terrestrial channels and found that users watched about three hours of television a week on their mobile phones.

Digital radio was not included but 70 per cent of testers wanted such a service, matching the results of a BT trial conducted earlier in the month. 

The tests used the DVB-H broadcast standard supported by Nokia, which is designed for high quality images and a large selection of channels.

The testers were all O2 customers and the transmission network was set up by broadcast specialists Arqiva.

"The Oxford mobile TV trial has proved that there is a market for mobile broadcasting, and we are now looking to make it happen with the collaboration of the whole industry," said Dr Hyacinth Nwana, managing director at Arqiva.

"The trial is proving that mobile multi-channel broadcasting, including TV and radio, is meeting consumer demand for content and choice of programmes.

"We have also demonstrably proven scalability, even if we have to deliver to millions of handsets simultaneously."

News was the most popular viewing category during the trial and the most common times to watch were early in the morning and late in the day.

A surprising number of testers also watched TV on their mobiles at home, although this could have been because 31 per cent of them had no other access to digital channels.

The trial started in September and the full results will be published in the spring.