FLO Forum Campaigns For Tech Neutrality In Europe

Mobile industry leaders at a regulatory workshop organized by the industry lobby group FLO Forum have spoken out against the EU’s plan to mandate DVB-H as the European standard for mobile TV, reports Dow Jones via Cellular News. European Telecoms Commissioner Viviane Reding has said that if the industry doesn’t select a standard soon she will, and apparently has plans to call for the single standard in her proposals this summer. The argument is that Europe took a big lead over the US in mobile services by instituting a single GSM standard so users could roam across the continent, and that by providing certainty that mobile TV deployers won’t face different rules in each country the roll-out of mobile TV won’t be delayed. “Without the “certainty and predictability” that comes with a single standard, Reding says “it will be impossible to invest with confidence in new innovative technologies.”

The industry at the FLO Forum say it’s too early to determine which standard is the better one…”Cengiz Evci, chief frequency allocation officer for Alcatel Lucent’s Wireless Business Group. Evci said the commission should let “market actors decide upon the rollout of mobile TV standards.” The other issue is whether the EU, having set a single mobile TV standard across Europe, then takes steps to ensure appropriate spectrum is released in each market for that standard.

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