The BBC Wants Mobile TV Urgently



Mark Thompson is in charge at the BBC. Creative Commons licenced  photo by Eirik Solheim.

Mark Thompson, the General Director of the BBC, spoke about mobile TV to the Guardian yesterday.

Thompson wants broadcasters which clearly includes the BBC, mobile phone manufacturers, telecom operators and the UK government to work together to create a "road map" for broadcasted mobile television.

"I believe that there's a strong case for the UK's broadcasters, mobile phone operators, Ofcom and government to come together to develop a roadmap for the introduction of mobile TV in this country. This would be complementary to the availability of TV content on demand, whether streamed or cached on the device and would enable the public to access time-critical content – news, major sports events and so on – wherever they are."

No meetings have yet been planned, but he calls for the process to be "kickstarted." So what does that mean? I have not spoken to Mark Thompson about this, but if you want to kickstart something, you are usually in a hurry. I do therefore believe that this may open the way to mobile TV in the UK in time for the Olympics in London next summer.

In order to do so, there is only one feasible standard out there, namely DMB. DMB services are being introduced in more and more countries as we speak (the last ones being Netherlands, Vietnam, Malaysia, South Africa, Dominican Republic and Belgium).

A little DMB help from the EU
Todays speech by Neelie Kroes, the Commissioner for Digital Agenda, should also help Tompson pick the technology to proceed with when it comes to mobile tv. She mentions the usage of open standards, and DMB, DAB and DAB+ specifically. Those three are all part of the same family (they can use the same transmitters and antennas and be received by the same receivers), and BBCs various digital radio channels via DAB already covers 86% of the UK population (set to increase to 93% by the end of the year). 

Devices, as Mark Thomson mention, are also plentiful when it comes to DMB. There is already a wide range of available receivers on the market. And a new generation of terminals, mobile phones and tablet PCs (with GSM, 3G and/or Wifi that also enables interactivity and on demand programmes) are about to be introduced.

The DMB network in Greater Oslo was up and running less than 9 months after Norwegian Mobile TV Corporation was founded. There is still plenty of time to get everything up and running way ahead of the summer games in 2012. Especially if other broadcasters, device manufacturers, telecom operators and Ofcom (the British Post and Tele Authority) listen to Thompson's wish for a kickstart.

The EU Pushes DMB, DAB and DAB+

Neelie Kroes is the EU Commissioner for Digital Agenda.
Photo licenced under a Creative Commons licence.

Neelie Kroes, the EUs Commissioner for Digital Agenda, spoke at the Association of European Radio's (AER) 20th Anniversary Conference today.

She demonstrates a competent and future proof understanding that radio needs clear conditions for it to continue to blossom in the long term, in a digital manner. She pinpoints that there is no single way forward, radio needs to be delivered via multiple platforms, where listeners want and expect it.

She calls for the usage of open standards, and mention DMB, DAB and DAB+ specifically. This will help the market to grow, and will benefit broadcasters, manufacturers of receivers, telecom operators and not least the users.

The decision of Germany to launch a nationwide radio network via DAB+ in August 2011 and Norways decision to shut off FM in January 2017 may have contributed to her strong belief in the need for digitalization of radio, but through her speech she clearly helps radio, the best media for delivery of pictures, develop even further in the future.

The highlights of her speech follows below, although I would recommend you to read all of it here.

While awareness of digital radio is low, the population is already well aware of the benefits of digital audio and they have had it in compact discs and iPods for years. We cannot forget the European aspects of this issue. My job is to help content providers scale up their offer at least to the Single Market size – and that cannot be done with FM analogue radio alone.

I think that there is great potential for digital radio, as the UK and Danish experiences demonstrate. From the Commission’s discussions with Member States, we have not yet reached clear-cut conclusions at European level on a number of fundamental questions: how can radio best participate in convergence? What incentives would encourage user and manufacturers to shift to the digital format? I need your support to develop the right answers to those questions. They will probably cover not only technical issues (e.g. spectrum efficiency of second generation standards and interoperability), but also political and economic issues. The ecosystem of radio must change, to the benefit of the many of us who enjoy its programmes on a daily basis.

We must all think creatively. Let me give you just one example. In the absence of standards agreed by the market, in the absence of digital radio in 16 Member States, I welcome the efforts of the WorldDMB industry group. They have developed receiver specifications which integrate DAB, DAB-plus, and DMB standards in one receiver. This is possible because these are open standards!

In conclusion, let me say that I am optimistic that the radio Single Market has a digital future.

I am determined that you should have access to the full benefits of the Single Market. To get there, we will need EU-wide coordination. Rest assured I am your ally in your efforts to give people the radio they want, how they want it.

More food for thought
The following blog posts are also highly relevant and may be of interest.
Plains, Trains and Automobiles
DAB 20 Times greener than FM
1484 Transmitters Too Many
21 Reasons Why FM is Almost History