The French media authority CSA remains optimistic about the prospects of mobile TV using the DVB-H transmission standard, but both operators and broadcasters are still reluctant to move.
Last October, the television channels that were awarded a mobile TV licence returned their signed agreement to the authority, following a delay of several months. The broadcasters take the stand that they do not want to pay for the building of a separate DVB-H transmitter network.
At a meeting organised by the CSA in February, the mobile operators indicated they would not deploy DVB-H as long as their 3G networks are not fully used to capacity. They would rather focus on LTE for the 4G networks. In addition, they stressed that they see more of a future for on-demand video on mobile rather than streaming live television.
Meanwhile, in September 2009 the transmitter company TDF started a low profile DVB-H test in Paris to gauge consumer interest. Originally, TDF offered to invest in the network, but it has since chosen to limit it ambitions. As in other countries, as long as there is no viable business case for mobile TV, neither operators nor broadcasters will not invest in a new infrastructure, especially when new technologies such as LTE will make higher speeds possible on the operators’ own networks.
