Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Texas Instruments, and Modeo line up behind DVB-H standard.

January 23, 2006

Tech giants Intel, Motorola, Nokia, Texas Instruments, and Modeo formed an organization on Monday to promote a standard for broadcasting digital TV on mobile devices.

The industry leaders are getting behind the DVB-H (digital video broadcasting¯handheld) standard, an alternative to Qualcomm’s MediaFLO technology, and setting up an organization called the Mobile DTV Alliance.

Representatives from the five companies are planning to discuss the technology Monday in Las Vegas during the NATPE Mobile++ conference. They plan to promote open standards and strategies for delivering broadcast TV to mobile devices in North America.

“The support of key industry players in promoting the advantages of the DVB-H standard will significantly aid mobile TV deployment efforts in North America,” said David Linsalata, research analyst for mobile markets at IDC.

Shares of Intel rose a penny to $21.77 in recent trading, while shares of Motorola increased $0.03 to $22.51, Nokia shares climbed $0.19 to $18.31, Texas Instruments stock rose $0.12 to $31.78, and Modeo climbed a nickel to $29.74.

Heating Up

Mobile TV efforts are heating up after a slew of mobile entertainment announcements earlier this month at the International Consumer Electronics Show.

At that show, Modeo (formerly known as Crown Castle Mobile Media), said it was launching mobile TV service in the top 30 markets in the United States, using devices from Nokia and Motorola (see Crown Castle Intros Mobile TV).

However, Samsung and LG Electronics said at CES they would support both the DVB-H and MediaFLO standards with their phones (see Samsung, LG Debut TV Phones).

With the DVB-H technology, users will be able to receive live TV on their mobile phones, with on-demand and interactive functions. The proponents of DVB-H say it will preserve enough bandwidth for voice and other cellular data services and will efficiently utilize the network carriers’ spectrum.

“DVB-H is a very effective way to deliver high-quality, broadcast digital TV to mobile users,” said Kevin Jones, director of business development for Intel’s mobility group.

More than 10 DVB-H network trials are under way and have already happened around the world, including in the U.S., Australia, Finland, France, and the United Kingdom.

However, alternatives to both DVB-H and MediaFLO are under development. Sprint is building its own fourth-generation network that may not use either standard (see Sprint to Upgrade Mobile TV).

Sprint and Cingular have been using MobiTV’s service, while Verizon has been using VCast, but these services do not yet employ the digital TV technology promised by DVB-H and MediaFLO (see Verizon, Qualcomm Turn on TV and Sprint, Cingular Add MobiTV2).