Nokia, Doordarshan Tie up for Mobile TV

Nokia has announced its latest Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld (DVB-H) broadcast mobile TV pilot with Doordarshan, using Nokia’s open standards based DVB-H solution. The Nokia Mobile Broadcast Solution will be delivered to Doordarshan via SHAF Broadcast Pvt Ltd in early 2007.

During this pilot, Doordarshan will test the reception quality of the broadcast coverage, and explore the options of supporting different service schemes, such as advertising and interactive services. The pilot will also enable Doordarshan to gauge consumer expectations of the service going forward.

L.D. Mandloi, Director-General of Doordarshan said, “Doordashan has taken a lead in adopting DVB-H standards and this was a logical extension of our DVB-T services. DVB-H over IP based on open standards will provide a discerning mobile broadcast experience to Indian consumer and we are confident of its success in our country which has historically been on the leading edge of broadcast technology and content creation.”

More from News & Analysis

What is the US HIRE Bill and why is India’s $250-billion IT sector worried? Is the internet dead? What's this theory that OpenAI's Sam Altman says might be true?

“India becomes one of the leading countries in Asia to deploy live broadcast mobile TV bringing Indian consumers a step closer to watching their favorite programs on their mobile devices,” said Jawahar Kanjilal, director, Multimedia, Nokia Asia Pacific. “We are excited to collaborate with Doordarshan to enable their mobile TV services. This is a great opportunity for the vibrant content industry in India to take advantage of bringing television into the pockets of the Indian consumers.”

As the national television broadcaster of India, Doordarshan runs the largest Free to Air Satellite (DTH) services covering the entire country. Its analog territory broadcast network covers more than 92% of India providing free news, sports and entertainment.

The pilot will use DVB-H technology to support mobility, small screens, indoor coverage, optimized use of battery and in-built antenna that are specific to handheld devices such as mobile devices.

Mobile TV broadcasting allows the user to watch TV programs on their mobile device. The service works by receiving a digital TV broadcast signal optimized for mobile devices from the air in much the same way as televisions at home do.