Telekom Austria Group has announced that its mobile subsidiary, mobilkom austria, has gegun a DVB-H pilot project, in a joint effort with ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation), Hutchison 3G, Siemens Österreich, ORS (Austria Radio Broadcaster), the University of Applied Sciences Salzburg and with the support of the Austrian Regulatory Authority – Rundfunk und Telekom Regulierungs-GmbH (RTR).
The pilot project, which started September 1, 2006 and will continue until June 2007, has realised the ‘mobile tv austria’ platform. One thousand participants are testing digital terrestrial TV via mobile for the first time in Austria. The DVB-H transmission network currently covers central parts of Vienna.
The standard DVB-H allows for sharp and stable pictures, high transmission quality and long battery life. A further advantage is represented by higher capacity, which allows for simultaneous deployment by multi-users. Via the platform users have access to TV programmes tailor-made for mobile phones.
The Austria mobile TV pilot is based on the cooperation among partners from different industries including two mobile network operators and a broadcaster. Each partner is contributing its specific expertise, allowing for a service environment under real operating conditions that can function via different terminals.
Alfred Grinschgl, Managing Director of RTR-GmbH said: “mobile tv austria is a good example for the consistent implementation of Austria’s digitalization strategy. The rapid introduction of mobile TV contributes to leveraging the potential of digital terrestrial TV for the benefit of Austria as a business and media location.”
In addition to providing expert support, RTR is investing EUR 1.3 million in the pilot project from the digitalisation fund.