Orange and T-Mobile join forces on mobile TV

Orange and T-Mobile will jointly trial a mobile TV service in West London during the second half of 2008.

The service will include 24 TV channels and ten radio stations delivered to multimedia-enabled mobiles phones over 3G UMTS spectrum.

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The six-month pilot will use the TDtv platform from software and systems company Nextwave Wireless which uses mobile broadcast multicast service technology.

The pilot is aimed at demonstrating how the cost of providing mobile TV can be reduced when operators share unpaired 3G spectrum as well as showing demand exists for these services.

The channels are likely to include many of the most popular UK broadcast television channels and radio stations.

TDtv was successfully trialled in Bristol in 2007 by Orange, Telefonica, Vodafone and 3UK.

Paul Jevons, product and innovation director at Orange, said the London pilot is an "excellent opportunity for us to properly explore the great potential available to our customers from the technology".

T-Mobile UK's technical director Emin Gurdenli said the company is committed to broadening mobile TV's appeal through content and user experience.