Will launch a pilot project in time for World Cup
E-Plus, Vodafone, T-Mobile and O2 have said they have formed a consortium to launch a DVB-H pilot in time for the Football World Cup, which starts on Friday 9 June.
The four German operators clearly want to lean on the German regulator to free up the necessary spectrum for DVB-H, as well as work together on defining the business case and technical specifications for the project. The operators will also work within the consortium to plan frequency use, and add momentum to marketing and, crucially, award the contracts for setting up and running the network.
The pilot-project starts today and will run until August 31, 2006 in Berlin, Hamburg and Hanover. In Munich, the pilot project will finish earlier, on July 31, 2006.
Clearly the operators hope that by working together they will present a united front and convince the regulator that releasing spectrum for DVB-H, managed in co-operation by all the operators, will be better for Germany as a “media centre” than other platforms.
A statement from the four operators said, “The crucial precondition for a rapid and sustained development of a broad product range for handset-TV is the accelerated establishment and expansion of an extensive DVB-H network infrastructure.
“To make the necessary investments, the mobile communications companies will require a clear perspective and, above all, long-term legal and planning security. Against this backdrop, the first task in Germany must be the provision of the required national transmission frequencies. It will also be necessary for the media authorities of the German states to agree on a standard nationwide frequency for DVB-H and to allocate appropriate transmission capacities to the mobile network operators.
“E-Plus, O2, T-Mobile and Vodafone are strongly urging the media authorities to agree as quickly as possible on the allocation of the frequency capacities. The mobile communications operators are emphasising their readiness to comprehensively and constructively continue their dialogue with the Federal network agency, the media authorities and program organisers on all regulatory, technical and commercial issues.”