Mobile TV

TV could overtake gaming and music as the consumer's favoured application for mobile phones, according to research.
Services in Japan, South Korea and Italy are attracting millions, confounding critics who said people would not watch TV on a small device.

But consumers remain confused by what is on offer, as competing service offer different content and quality.

For the UK, a shortage of spectrum needed for mobile TV means adoption of services might have to wait until 2012.

Money-spinner

Research firm Screen Digest forecasts that mobile TV will put gaming and music in the shade. It predicted that there will be 140 million global subscribers generating revenue of £3.1bn by 2011.

"There has been a lot of cynicism about mobile TV and the big unanswered question has been whether people would watch it. For us that has been answered," said Dave MacQueen, senior mobile analyst with Screen Digest.

A slow-down in mobile gaming and the fact that music via mobiles is unlikely to be a money-spinner for operators as people continue to 'side-load' music from their PCs, makes TV the best option for operators to make money, thinks Mr MacQueen.

As data services fail to make huge revenues and with regulatory and competitive pressures meaning the money people spend on voice and messaging is falling, operators need to make mobile TV a success, he said.

In Japan and South Korea there are now 5.8m people watching TV on their mobile phones, and even more watching TV on other hand-held devices and via in-car systems.

In Italy there are 500,000 subscribers to newly-launched mobile TV services such as that run by Vodafone in conjunction with Sky Italia.

The Vodafone service offers consumers the choice of 17 channels and can be paid for either monthly or is offered free for people that sign up to contracts.

From the BBC website.