Broadcast Television Services Suited for Mobile Handheld Devices

Recent developments in digital broadcasting technology and multimedia distribution infrastructure, the emergence of standards for mobile broadcasting, and the ongoing evolution of advanced mobile multimedia handsets have opened the way for digital broadcast services for mobile users. Mobile television and digital radio are the most promising applications, but many other services (e.g., unidirectional file transfer) can make use of digital mobile broadcasting technology as well. In fact, television is a major media missing from today's mobile phone terminals. Initial market research of mobile TV services indicates that there is a high commercial demand for such services. However the underlying technologies are still maturing and it is not clear which approach should be selected for commercial exploitation. Based on the available standards for deployment in European countries, this paper depicts the current situation and possible mobile broadcast scenarios for successful roll-out of mobile television services in Europe