Eastern Europe switching on to mobile TV

Around 2.6 million Europeans were using mobile TV at the end of 2007

Eastern Europe is taking its lead from western Europe in switching on to the idea of mobile TV, analysts report.

Frost & Sullivan highlighted a steady depreciation of average revenue per user seen by mobile operators since 2005.

The analyst firm attributed the decline to the saturation of the mobile market, as some countries already exceed 100 per cent penetration.

As a result, providers are scrambling for new services and applications for mobile devices to help generate revenue, most notably mobile TV.

Headed by Italy, around 2.6 million Europeans were already using mobile TV at the end of 2007.

"Mobile TV refers to the transmission of audiovisual content to mobile devices," explained Saverio Romeo, research analyst at Frost & Sullivan.

"It means viewing any content on the move, anywhere and anytime. This concept completely changes the use of audiovisual services, and consequently the consumer's experience.

"In fact, the mobility not only allows users to view content on the move, but to share content on the point of inspiration with other users introducing new forms of interactivity."

The technology is now gaining favour in eastern Europe as platforms such as MediaFLO, T-DMB, DVB-H and TDtv are reviewed in various countries.

The Office for Electronic Communications in Poland has launched a tender for 38 channels to major cities within the country, while Russian market leader MTS is ready to launch a mobile TV service offering 20 channels.

Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania are also trialling mobile TV services.

The success of mobile TV has been patchy in some countries, but the Italians have embraced the technology with enthusiasm.

"In 2006, 3 Italia launched its mobile TV [DVB-H] service in time for the football World Cup and had an astonishing take-up," said Saverio.

"The reason for this success was quite simple. Football supporters do not really care about technologies; they want to view their teams when they are not at home at good quality and at a package which meets the needs of their wallets. "

The quality, cost of service and cost of mobile device are critical to the success of mobile TV, the report noted.