The French consumer electronics association Simavelec has launched an appeal to make mobile TV broadcasts free-to-air rather than subscription based. According to a statement, such broadcasts have more chance of succeeding when they are freely available.
In Japan and Korea, this business model has achieved more than 15 million viewers, compared to 600,000 in Italy for subscription models and just tens of thousands in Germany and the UK. “Pay models are a long way behind the free to air business model.” Mobile TV will be launched in France before the Olympic Games and Euro 2008 football tournament.