Today and tomorrow, Cable & Satellite International are holding “The Multi-Channel TV To Handhelds Conference” in London. Thanks to one of tomorrow’s speakers - fellow OfcomWatcher Monica Ari&#241o - I’m attending much of the event which is about a new subject for me and most consumers. But, make no mistake, mobile television is coming soon (well, maybe in four years) to a (small) screen somewhere near you. Some of the main points from today’s presentations:

• Mobile broadcasting is a simple proposition for the consumer since it combines “two of the most invasive technologies of all time” (Hyacinth Nwana of Arqiva, formerly NTL Broadcast). Evidence so far suggests that subscribers access such services when waiting or when travelling and then they ‘catch up’ on missed programmes or ’snack’ on bite-sized television.
• Mobile broadcasting is already a reality in South Korea which has the first commercial service in the world. It costs $20 to register for the service and a further $13 a month to use. Some 200,000 subscribers are currently watching an average of 60 minutes broadcasting a day on their mobiles. Some 65% of current users are male, mostly aged 20-30. I saw one of the clever mobiles in use in Korea which has a nifty swivel screen.
• Mobile broadcasting is already being trialled in the UK. There is one trial in Oxford which uses the rather chunky Nokia 7710 mobile which I also saw at the conference. The partners in this trial are Arqiva, O2 and Nokia. In this trial, 16 channels - including BBC, ITV and Sky channels - are available to some 350-400 users aged 18-45. The trial will run from four-six months during which visitors will include Ofcom. An independent agency (NOP) is collecting and analysing the data. Other UK trials are a Cambridge trial run with Microsoft and a Livetime trial run with BT.
• There are four trials in the USA and other trials in Helsinki and Paris as well as Germany and Japan.
• The technology behind mobile broadcasting is a formidable confusion of terrifying acronyms. The Oxford trial is using something called DVB-H; the Livetime trial is using something called DAB/DMB; and the Cambridge trial is using some combination of these. DVB-H is currently dominating in Europe, but Korea is using DMB and Japan is testing ISDB-T. The US is using something called MediaFLO in some of its trials.
• There is a major regulatory issue at stake in the UK and the potential players are lobbying Ofcom, DTI & DCMS. The problem is that mobile communications needs appropriate dedicated spectrum. The ideal spectrum is currently occupied by analogue television in Bands III & IV and will not start to become available until digital switchover commences in 2008. However, Ofcom is moving towards a regulatory model of spectrum liberalisation and this market approach may not lead to the early availability of suitable spectrum for mobile broadcasting. Expect Ofcom to consult on this quite soon.
• In mobile broadcasting, content is absolutely king and there is a widespread consensus that one cannot simply take broadcasting designed and produced for conventional television and make it available for mobiles. Content has to be specially designed to take full account of the smaller screen and the smaller time available for viewing. An examples given was the “24 Conspiracy” mobisodes supplied by Vodafone. As Paul Whitehead of Channel Four put it: “It is not just about girls, goals and gambling”.
• When is it really going to happen? Neil Strother the NPD Group argued that “In 2009, it will become an ‘overnight’ sensation”. This is because by then we will have the new networks, the new mobiles, appropriate business models, appropriate value chains, solution of DRM issues, acceptable quality of service, and the experience of the video iPod.