Digital Video Broadcasting for Handhelds, or DVB-H, has been endorsed by the European Union as being the standard to use in Europe for the broadcast of video to handheld devices. In fact, it’s promising to mandate it.
DVB-H is an open standard that has gathered support from a group of companies that fall under Nokia’s banner. It was developed in Europe by technology research institutes.
The announcement is a blow to rival standards, mainly developed by companies in the US, China and South Korea. Europe is reportedly the world’s richest market, with 490 million consumers, and the EU’s decision virtually extinguishes the chances of these companies being able to penetrate it.
History in EU’s favour
The European Broadcasting Union believes it’s too early to adopt a standard, and consumers should have a say in choosing the standard, putting the onus on mobile carriers to entice them with mobile TV services.
However, the EU has proof that selecting one standard can accelerate the take-up of technology – in the 1980s it pushed the GSM mobile phone standard, leading to European consumers switching to mobiles much quicker than in the USA.
In contrast, several standards are already in use in the USA, where regulators have decided not to choose just one. DVB-H and Qaulcomm’s MediaFLO are currently used by several of the major carriers.
