Mobile TV will allow LuxGSM customers to receive live streaming TV from RTL, Eurosport, and loop channels from Warner Bros on their 3G mobile phones from mid-June onwards. According to Marc Rosenfeld, director of LuxGSM, customers will be able to access the service through the web portal Vodafone Live! and buy a subscription via their phone for a given period of their choice.

Mobile TV is the product of the collaboration between P&T Luxembourg and its two branches: LuxGSM and P&T Consulting. The latter developed and managed the technical part of the project and was responsible for setting up the live stream mechanisms. It is also in charge of the commercialisation of the technical infrastructure, while LuxGSM offers the service trough its partner Vodafone to its customers.

No market gap

Mobile TV thus follows a long list of services offered by LuxGSM through its partner Vodafone Live!, which includes the downloading of music, ringtones, pictures and games. The success of the download industry, epitomised by the extremely irritating yet popular "Crazy Frog" ringtone, might have inspired LuxGSM to venture in the mobile TV business.

But LuxGSM is not the only operator offering this service in Luxembourg. In 2005, Tele2 pioneered the sector with its Free TV for 3G phones. On May 2nd, VOXmobile also entered the race and launched its own mobile TV (VOXvision), which allows 3G customers to receive 5 channels (RTL Luxembourg, Giga TV, Rebel TV, Fashion TV, Deluxe Music TV).

A growing sector?

Mobile TV may well be a sector in expansion. According to a report issued by research firm eMarketer, there were 44.5 million subscribers worldwide who watched mobile TV on their phone in 2006. The report predicts that the number will double each year, reaching 520.9 million by 2009. The growing sector can also be very lucrative for advertisers. According to Gunnar Garfors (on the BBC website), who led a mobile TV trial in Norway last year, advertisers could target mobile TV viewers with advertising banners.