When the new German DVB-H service Mobile 3.0 will launch just before the start of the Euro 2008 football championship it will only reach the major cities. Local programming will be part of the offering from Day One. In June, Mobile 3.0 will be on air with transmitters from T-Systems in the country’s largest urban areas including Cologne/Bonn, Berlin, Hamburg and Munich. Before years end, the service should reach 40% of the population including all state capitals. The plan is to have local programming windows in all metropolitan areas, to be delivered by local broadcasters such as TV Berlin and Hamburg 1. So far, mobile TV has met with a lukewarm response from German consumers, with the service from MFD using the DMB format reaching about 10,000 paying subscribers. The service was launched two years ago before the World Cup football matches.
