China to launch national mobile TV

Following a commercial test period, China is now set to roll out its proprietary mobile TV system CMMB (China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting) nationwide.

CMMB will become available on a region by region basis, with China’s seven largest regions first to receive the service. In order to make the mobile TV offer more attractive, a special CMMB programme production company will be established.

Liu Tingjun, deputy general manager of CMMB operator China Satellite Mobile Broadcasting Corporation (CSMBC), has revealed that China’s number of CMMB users exceeded 1 million last May. By the end of 2010, this figure should have grown to 10 million.

During the next few years the number of users is expected to grow to 50 million. Liu explained that plans are underway to provide bi-directional upgrades to the CMMB network, realizing interactive services such as voting, shopping and interactive gaming.

The first region includes Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Xinjiang; the second Heilongjiang, Liaoning,Jilin, Zhejiang; the third Shanghai, Jiangsu, Anhui, Jiangxi; the fourth Shandong, Henan, Hubei, Hunan; the fifth Sichuan, Yunnan, Guizhou, Chongqing, Xizang; the sixth Shaanxi, Gansu,Ningxia, Qinghai, Inner Mongolia; and the seventh Fujian, Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.