Mobile Broadcasting Body Hits Out At EC Commissioner
The WorldDMB Forum has hit back at comments made by European telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding that mobile broadcasters should use the digital video broadcasting-handheld (DVB-H) standard rather than DAB/digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB).
The European Mobile Broadcasting Council (EMBC) last week published a report which called on the industry to adopt a single technological standard, with Reding recommending that broadcasters use the DVB-H standard that was developed with nearly €40 million of EC research funds.
Reding said that as DVB-H is already in use in 17 European Union countries and is an open standard, members of the EMBC should welcome it.
However, the WorldDMB Forum, which promotes the adoption and implementation of DAB/DMB, claims that the commissioner’s stance is “dangerous and detrimental to the future of mobile broadcasting in Europe”.
WorldDMB president, Quentin Howard, said: “It is ridiculous for the Commission to think that only one system can work everywhere. Each country has its own unique requirements and market conditions and the commissioner’s preference for one solution suggests she has failed to grasp that mobile operators and broadcasters need flexibility to develop different business models.
“Madame Reding says she prefers a European technology for Europe and cites interoperability as an important issue. I couldn’t agree more. DAB/DMB is a European technology whose development was funded by the EU. This European system has been adopted by leading technology nations including Korea and China. DMB is the world’s most successful mobile TV platform by an order of magnitude compared to DVB-H.
“On interoperability, I am pleased to remind her that WorldDMB and the DVB Forum are already working together to ensure that DAB/DMB and DVB-H2 (the next version of DVB-H) can be interoperable.
Howard added: “The availability of spectrum is key to the roll-out of mobile TV and radio, and having a combination of DMB and DVB-H, for example, means you can start mobile broadcasting now in most European countries without the need for the Commission to do anything at all. For the commissioner to sweep away all these issues, contradict her own policy of neutrality and to ignore the recommendations of the EMBC is unbelievable.”
Commissioner Reding has given the mobile broadcasting industry a deadline of summer 2007 to agree on a standard.
WorldDMB Forum: www.worlddab.org