Andre Yoskowitz
18 Mar 2008 15:59
European Union commissioners have decided on a mobile TV broadcast standard and has now asked that its member governments ask their respective Cell phone carries to favor it.
The standard, DVB-H, or Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds, was chosen over rivals MediaFLO and DMB which were favored by South Korean and Chinese manufacturers. DVB-H is the most widely used standard in Europe currently.
Nokia,,Motorola, Philips, Sagem, Sony, Ericsson, Samsung,Vodafone, O2 and T-Mobile all support DVB-H, but MediaFLO is supported by the largest carriers in the US, Verizon Wireless and AT&T.
"They can do that by labeling, they can do that by promoting it in attributing licenses and so on," said EU spokesman Martin Selmayr.
Despite the choice, the impact is Limited. EU nations are under no obligation to choose a standard based on the decision of the commission.