The German incumbent telco Deutsche Telekom plans to launch a mobile TV service using the DVB-H standard next year. It will be the country’s third attempt to launch a “Handy TV” network.
The operator’s mobile division T-Mobile is currently talking to Mobile Broadcast to build a network of DVB-H transmitters. Reports in the local press say the operator does not want to confirm a launch of a mobile TV service but is studying all possibilities.
T-Mobile owns the mobile TV rights for the German football Bundesliga and is currently distributing them on their own UMTS network. Being a mobile operator, the company is not allowed to own a DVB-H broadcast licence itself. A way around this would be to have the Constantin Medien, which is offering football coverage to apply for such a licence.
Two earlier attempts to launch a mobile TV service in Germany faltered. The first one used the DMB standard and stopped its activities in May of last year. Also last year, he Mobile 3.0 consortium, when it won the DVB-H licence, handed it back when it couldn’t meet expectations.
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