Dubai buys mobile TV

Media&Broadcast, a subsidiary of German vendor T-Systems, has been commissioned by Tecom Investments to set up a cellular TV network based on the DVB-H platform covering Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, the company said in a press release. During the test phase, which is scheduled to run until the end of 2007, users can receive twelve TV channels on their cell phones and mobile devices, free of charge. The three TV broadcasting stations in Dubai will be able to use the network to reach around 600,000 inhabitants in a coverage area of 300 square kilometres, and the network is scheduled to be expanded in early 2008. The UAE is home to two GSM/W-CDMA mobile network operators, Emirates Telecommunications Corporation (Etisalat) and Emirates Integrated Telecommunication Company (du).