Tv On My Mobile Phone? - How? - When?
By Marco Barra, Sat Dec 10th

It has been long time coming, but those technological seedsplanted a few years ago are now beginning to sprout and MobilePhone TV is not longer a dream, but a reality.

Put simply, this technology enables you to watch their favouriteTV programs whenever and wherever through your 3G handset. Justimagine being able to keep up with the latest scores, watch yourfavourite music videos, or keep up to date with the day's newsat the touch of a button and you'll get the idea.

How and what you get to see depends on what your network serviceprovider has to offer. As a 3 or Orange customer, you will findyour selection somewhat limited, a price paid for being thefirst to introduce the technology. If you are on O2, youroptions more closely match the currently available terrestrialservices. Vodafone on the other hand provides you with

the mostimpressive service to date after a contract with Sky.

The deal with Sky means that as a Vodafone customer you are ableto choose between & Sports (CNN, Sky Sports News, etc) orMusic & Entertainment (MTV, Bravo, etc). With even more optionsbecoming available as the service matures.

Mobile TV is available now, and until January 31 Vodafone areproviding this service free of charge.

A word of caution - At present there are two ways of receivingTV on your mobile phone. The first is the method currently inuse by the major networks and is based on data streams over a 3Gnetwork. The second and less popular method is DVB-H, which isin essence the mobile phone equivalent of Freeview. Due to thedifferences, you can not use a DVB-H enabled mobile phone towatch streamed media.

About the author:Marco Barra is part of the Digital Phone Company team, a leadingindependent provider of mobile phones servingover 30,000 customers across East Anglia through a network of 11retail outlets and a team of dedicated Business to Businessconsultants. www.digital-phone.co.uk