LONDON — The European Commission's decision in March to add its favored Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld (DVB-H) mobile TV technology to its list of official standards has created blurred signals rather than a clear picture
In truth, the outcome was not a big surprise as the Commission had said in 2007 that it wanted to mandate the standard for use throughout Europe. Viviane Reding, the European Commissioner responsible for communications in the 27-nation bloc made it clear several times that if the market did not migrate to DVB-H voluntarily she would use regulatory measures to make DVB-H an EU-wide standard.
But the latest pronouncement merely reasserts that member states will be required to encourage their industries to use DVB-H as the single listed standard.
Reding reiterated that Europe is at a crossroads " and it would appear to be a choice between allowing companies to react to free-market forces or using policy to try create regional advantage, despite the protests of individual companies and national governments.
"We can either take the lead globally " as we did for mobile telephony based on the GSM standard developed by European industry " or allow other regions to take the lion's share of the promising mobile TV market. Wait and see is not an option."
While Commissioner Reding's bluster is always strong " and her assertion that the stakes for Europe are huge in ensuring the success of DVB-H are genuine " the reality is that EU member states are still not legally required to use the technology. Indeed some countries, such as the U.K. and Germany, have indicated they may fight any attempt to mandate its use, since they favor technology neutrality for issues of spectrum usage.
