Archive notice: This article was originally published on June 1, 2006. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Cologne-based Mobiles Fernsehen Deutschland GmbH (MFD), as platform provider, and mobile communications service provider Debitel are launching a mobile TV offering in advance of the football World Cup. Interested parties can choose among four channels, namely ZDF live (1:1 adoption of the TV program with 24 World Cup matches), N24 (1:1 adoption), MTV Music (program without advertising interruptions) and EntertainmentTV from ProSiebenSat1 (various comedy formats).
According to the provider, mobile television has already been available since May 31 in the World Cup cities Berlin, Cologne, Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Munich, and is still in test operation in Hanover and Hamburg. The Samsung SGH-P900 cell phone is required to receive the “watcha” offering; cell phones from LG and Panasonic are to be added at a later date.
Transmission uses the DMB standard (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting), which competes with DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast – Handheld). MFD sees DMB as having an “enormous” advantage over other technologies. The company cites an unlimited number of users and better quality as key advantages compared with UMTS. Due to its technology, DVB-H drains the cell-phone battery more heavily and will not be commercially available until the end of 2007.
In view of more than 70 million active cell-phone contracts and high television use, MFD managing director Henrik Rinnert sees “great market potential” for DMB. By the end of the year, he wants to have reached a subscriber figure “beyond 50,000.”
Further links:
- Website for “watcha”
