CACC 2007, PRAGUE – The greatest obstacle to the introduction of mobile TV services in the Czech Republic is regulatory, according to Richard Stonavsky, the head of regulatory affairs at T-Mobile, Czech Republic.
Stonavsky was speaking at the 8th Czech Broadband Communications (CACC) conference being held this week in Prague and also revealed the findings of a six-week mobile trial undertaken by T-Mobile and the national transmission company Radiokomunikace in the Czech capital late last year.
It found that the most watched content was short programming, news, music and – perhaps surprisingly – feature films. At least 50% of triallists used interactive applications, with most being willing to pay CZK100 (€3.57) a month for a package of channels and double that amount for one including premium services.
The TV channels most requested for a mobile TV service were the existing terrestrial services CT1, CT2, TV Nova and Prima TV. Stonavsky added that the existing Czech Media Law needs to be amended in order to allow telecom operators such as T-Mobile to be distribute programming from other parties via mobile.