This autumn the Federal Communications Commission (ComCom) of Switzerland will award a national licence for mobile TV on the basis of a criteria-based competition. The objective will be to enable the licensee to provide initial services for the European Football Championship in the host cities of Basle, Berne, Zurich and Geneva. The Federal Office of Communications (Bakom) is launching the invitation to tender for this licence, with candidates then having until July 27 to submit their documents.
The invitation to tender does not include any guidelines concerning the standard to be applied. However, ComCom is recommending the use of DVB-H.
The following selection criteria will be applied in selecting the best bid: 1) coverage and roll-out, 2) concept and implementation, 3) business and service plan, 4) contribution to media diversity and 5) coherence and credibility of the candidature.
The licence will be awarded for a term of 10 years and obliges the licensee to supply mobile TV to at least 30% of the Swiss population by the end of May 2008 and to at least 50% by the end of 2012.
