Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 19, 2007. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Users do not have to pay any content-related fees for these programmes. The new platform is to be launched in time for the 2008 European Football Championship. The contract between ARD, ZDF and Mobile 3.0 will initially run for two years as part of the state media authorities’ DVB-H pilot project.
ARD chairman Fritz Raff said: "The younger generation in particular, but also the important target group of decision-makers and multipliers, are showing increasing interest in location-independent and mobile television use. In addition to traditional television at home, mobile TV will develop into a relevant distribution channel. It is therefore important for ARD to be represented on the new platform unencrypted and barrier-free."
ZDF Director General Markus Schächter said: "ZDF has already been broadcast since June 2006 on the first mobile platform MFD (Mobile Television Germany) in the metropolitan areas. Our viewers have the right to use their ZDF programme whenever and wherever they want. ZDF must therefore also be receivable unencrypted with television-capable mobile phones. At Mobile 3.0, this strategy finds its consistent continuation in the new DVB-H standard."
