The European Commission has taken a decisive step towards the promotion of competitive Mobile TV services in the EU. It has published a set of guidelines for the authorisation of Mobile TV to accelerate roll-out of the service across Europe. Mobile TV revenues worldwide are expected to reach more than €7.8 billion in 2013.

In close cooperation with Member States and industry, the Commission has identified the main principles which regulators and governments in the Member States should follow when authorising operators to provide Mobile TV services. The Commission has published these principles in a new Communication that will help Member States to make Mobile TV a reality and success for operators and consumers without delay.

To date, only a few Member States, such as Austria, Finland, France and Germany have adopted legislation for new Mobile TV services. The Commission's guidelines aim to keep up the momentum for Mobile TV at EU-level, in order to create a coherent and favourable regulatory environment for take-off and take-up of this new service.

EU Mobile TV Guidelines

The guidelines say that a straightforward, transparent and non discriminatory procedure for awarding licences is the key to a successful approach avoiding delays. The quality of the service delivered to customers, including indoor coverage and transmission quality, should be part of the award conditions.

The guidelines furthermore recommend that frequencies made available for Mobile TV should be withdrawn if the service has not started within a reasonable period of time. They also advise regulators to keep the authorisation process open to all industry players and create conditions which encourage cooperation between telecoms operators (providing the service) and broadcasters (providing the content).

Finally, they call upon the industry to make sure that DVB-H based Mobile TV services in every EU country work together. One way to do this is choosing non-proprietary technologies, which all consumers would be able to use without extra plug-ins and regardless of which device they use, to access Mobile TV content.

The commercial services launched before summer 2008 in some European countries show that there is an increasing consumer demand. This is the reason why the EU wants, in Viviane Reding's, EU Telecoms and Media Commissioner, words “to give Member States guidance on how to allow industry to get these innovative services on track as quickly and smoothly as possible. We stand for a collaborative approach between all actors involved including broadcasters, mobile operators and platforms operators, and we oppose heavy regulation or burdensome authorisation procedures for the introduction of Mobile TV in Europe."

Light regulation and clear licensing regimes will give industry the legal certainty needed to rapidly launch Mobile TV offers. The Commission will keep a close eye on progress made and will not allow any unreasonable demands to delay progress in Europe. The Commission will continue to promote the exchange of information, experience and best practice between national authorities and other stakeholders. Moreover, the switch-over process from analogue to digital TV and the Telecoms reform will facilitate access to new spectrum, which can be used for the provision of Mobile TV services.