Mobile
Italy mobile TV will top 5m
Chris Forrester ©RapidTVNews | 26-11-2009
Mobile TV hasn't exactly been a hit in Europe - except in Italy. A new forecast says video (and cellular)-crazy Italians will own 5.1m handheld mobile TVs by 2015.
The report, from Coda Research, suggests that cellular TV revenues will hit $685m by 2015, generated from more than 5.1m Italians who want to watch TV on their cellular phones.
However, despite the appeal of DVB-H the support will not all flow in its direction. Coda says that DVB-H subs will grow from today's 1.2m users to 2.5m in 2015, helped by next year's FIFA World Cup soccer tournament out of South Africa. By the end of next year DVB-H usage will climb to 1.6m users.
Steve Smith, the report's author, commented that mobile TV take-up in Italy, although respectable when compared to the rest of Europe, has failed to meet expectations. "In part this is due to how Europeans fit their mobile phones into their everyday lives," he explains. "People tend to use their phones for video, games, texting, social networking and so on when they are between spaces and events, such as when commuting or meeting friends. In Japan and South Korea, where mobile TV penetration is significantly higher, people spend a lot more time commuting on public transport and so have more time available. The streaming or broadcast of live TV simply doesn't fit the European consumer. This is one example of how operators and broadcasters aren't providing the kinds of video content and services mobile users actually want."
© Rapid TV News 2009
