| Author (Person) | McLauchlin, Anna |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.4, 2.2.06 |
| Publication Date | 02/02/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Anna McLauchlin Date: 02/02/06 European Media Commissioner Viviane Reding travelled to Brazil and Argentina this week (30 January) to add weight to Europe's fight to globalise its DVB digital television standard. The Brazilian government could make a decision early this year on which standard it will use for digital services. If it chooses DVB it could be the most significant boost to Europe's technology industry since GSM. Latin America is the next big market eyed by Europe's DVB project and its two competitors, Japan's ISDB and the US ATSC system. Recent press reports have suggested that the Brazilian government has already ruled out using ATSC. The EU, Australia and Russia already use DVB and trials are currently underway in India. Although the US terrestrial market is limited to ATSC, DVB-S is used for much of its satellite broadcasting. "If Latin America chose DVB as its standard it would lead to significant financial gain for European business," said David Wood, head of new technology at the European Broadcasting Union. This gain would come from licence fees for DVB receivers, the import of EU know-how in Latin American factories and imported equipment from the EU. Europe's reputation as a leader in technological innovation for future investment would also be boosted. It would also lead to lower prices for digital television in Europe, Wood said. "It would be like the adoption of the GSM standard. With a single standard there is more competition among those making the receivers which brings prices down for everyone, including those in the EU." Reding was joined on her trip by senior representatives from major European companies, including Finnish mobile giant Nokia, which confirmed its commitment to DVB in the Mercosur countries. Last week (23 January), Brazilian Communications Ministers Helio Costa told local news service Agencia Estado that his government planned to introduce digital services by September 2006, although other reports claim that such services are more likely to be rolled out over the next five years. An alliance of 250 European companies invented DVB for terrestrial digital television in the 1990s. Following its take-up, the alliance launched a standard for digital satellite broadcasting (DVB-S) and trials have now started for DVB-H, which would provide guaranteed reception for broadcasting on handheld devices such as mobile phones. Article reports on a trip to Argentina and Brazil by the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media, Viviane Reding, 30-31 January 2006 to discuss the countries' introduction of digital terrestrial TV. The EU delegation was promoting DVB, the European standard developed by an alliance of 250 European companies or terrestrial digital television in the 1990s. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry |
| Countries / Regions | Europe, South America |
