Sunday, June 04, 2006

Germany Launches Two Mobile TV Networks

Days before the FIFA World Cup, Germany has launched two separate mobile broadcast TV networks that will offer content from the games as well as other TV and radio channels.

The first service is based on T-DMB technology, and was launched by mobile operator Debitel and broadcast service provider MFD. The service will use the Samsung SGH-P900 and LG-V9000 handsets, and will be available initially in 5 German cities: Berlin, Cologne, Munich, Stuttgart and Frankfurt. Later this month, the service will spread to more cities including Gelsenkirchen, Hamburg and Hanover. At launch, 4 TV channels will be available: ZDF, MTV, N24 and a channel produced by PRO7. The monthly fee which Debitel plans to charge for this service is 9.95 Euros.

The second service, still in a trial stage, is based on DVB-H technology, and was launched by Germany's four major mobile operators: T-Mobile, Vodafone, O2 and E-Plus. The trial is being held in Hamburg, Berlin, Munich and Hanover, and will continue until the end of August. The content for the trial includes two national TV channels, ARD and ZDF, and 16 radio channels.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

9.9 euro per month, it would be interesting to see how big the subscriber base will be. I'm wondering if people really are ready to pay that money for 5 minutes zapping a day. I wouldn't sign up for that, since I pay around 20 euro for my voice+SMS plan, 15 euro for my fixed tele, and 20 euro for my fixed broadband connection. Than 10 euro seems just to be too much for the value I can get.