The first Mobile Digital TV experiment for the European market begins

November 09, 2005

The first Mobile Digital TV experiment for the European market begins
Mediaset channels and football in DVB-H technology on TIM mobiles:

Technological innovation at the basis of the agreement between Mediaset and TIM. First broadcasts commence in 2006.

Mediaset and TIM have reached an agreement that will become the basis for the world's first commercial launch of digital terrestrial TV on mobile phones using DVBH (Digital Video Broadcast Handheld) technology.

Thanks to this agreement it will be possible, in 2006 and for the following five years, to see programmes broadcast by Canale 5, Retequattro, Italia Uno, as well as the matches of Serie A TIM and the Champions League with DVBH, a technology that guarantees a quality of wireless transmission identical to that offered by terrestrial digital broadcasting.

Mediaset and TIM will immediately pool their respective technological know-how and infrastructural assets necessary for the development and experimentation of the new transmissions. The digital format provided by Mediaset will provide perfect reception of the ordinary television broadcasting in digital format on mobile phones and television screens mounted on board public and private means of transport.

The new mobile digital format will be a format open to all system operators. The agreement reached between Mediaset-TIM does provide for not exclusive rights and the signal to be broadcast throughout the entire national territory will have DVD quality, and thus without any audio and video disturbance.

TIM will, therefore, be the first Italian mobile telephone operator to commit itself to the provision of DVBH wireless services. The services to which the agreement refers will be transmitted over the dual-mode UMTS handsets able to use the new DVBH technology. The leading handset manufacturers have already announced that these new devices will be available on the market in 2006.

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