Analysts question EC's DVB-H endorsement

Questions raised around spectrum policy and how adoption will be enforced.

The analyst community has not wasted any time passing judgement on yesterday's decision by the European Commission to endorse the Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld standard (DVB-H) for broadcast mobile TV.

While the move was widely expected following initial moves made by the EC towards DVB-H last summer, Ovum analyst Matthew Howett suggested it might be difficult to harmonise spectrum use for the technology across all territories.

He said: "Opting for a single standard is useless if there is no common spectrum available to deploy it. The UHF band, which is the most favourable band for DVB-H deployments, is due to be opened up once the digital switchover is completed around 2012.

"However, at the moment there is no consensus on what this band should be used for. This is a problem since given the nature of spectrum airwaves do not stop at national borders. Neighbouring member states will need to agree how this spectrum band should be used to ensure that interference does not occur.”

So far only Ofcom in the UK has set out its plans and decided not to reserve spectrum for particular uses. Howett's full discussion of the decision can be read by clicking here.