06/05/2008

At the start of the month, the European Parliament organised a Public Hearing on “Television on mobile phones”. Owing to technological advances, which will enable the masses to enjoy this new form of television (it is hoped that in the near future there will be 500 million users), European institutions are seeking to take a position on this new phase in television broadcasting.

The technology for mobile TV already exists, but how will these new platforms be financed? How will licences be granted? But above all, the question of most relevance to the EU – as pointed out by the president of the Public Hearing, Katerina Batzeli – is whether mobile TV is a new format or a new technology.

The fact is that Mobile TV is both. On the one hand, it involves new technology and it is therefore necessary to settle matters such as the granting of licences and frequency distribution. However, on the other hand, mobile TV is also a new audiovisual language and format, given that the content will not be exactly the same as for conventional television.

As for the economic model to be adopted, Andy Motley – a representative from Telefonica O2 Europe – said that this should be similar to the one for cable TV. Users should not expect to be able to watch TV on their mobile phones free of charge, for the initial investment is very high and there must be profit prospects for companies if they are going to invest in this new model.

Oliver Werner, a representative from the German public television network ARD, insisted that it doesn’t matter which technological protocols are used as long as they are mutually compatible. The technological question is not as crucial as the necessity for public TV channels to create free content, thus fulfilling the role of a public service.

As regards roaming, some would like to adopt the model applied to mobile telephony. And as for rights sales, Alexandre Fourtoy, a representative of UEFA, insists that the new format poses no legal problems, given that rights sales are dictated by territory and time. Moreover, the rights for all possible formats are usually sold together in the same package.

After this opportunity for reflection, it is now up to the European institutions to make the necessary decisions.