DMB countries join forces

Five of the countries that have adopted the DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) standard have established an organisation to support mobile TV via DMB and related services. Members from The Netherlands, Norway, the UK, Malta and Italy have formed the International DMB Advancement Group (IDAG).

IDAG’s goal is to promote TV, radio and data services via DMB, DAB and DAB+, together with enhanced functionality via other networks such as 3G and WLAN. The group says it is content and business driven and will focus on creating a bigger Pan-European market for DMB terminals through purchasing partnerships, collaborations with other companies and organisations and the coordination of technical solutions.

TV via DMB has already been launched in Norway while The Netherlands and Malta will follow later in 2009. Italy and the UK are currently testing DMB on a smaller scale. The member count may increase rapidly as there are a number of other countries on three continents working with or planning DMB services.

The current members of IDAG are: DigiBNetwork, Mobiele TV Nederland (MTVNL), Norwegian Mobile TV Corporation (NMTV), Norway, Radio Televisione Italiana (RAI) and The Technology Partnership (UK).