Branson's company, Virgin Mobile, is preparing to get involved in the newest data transmission field, mobile television. With this purpose in mind, it teamed up with BT Livetime, in order to develop a pilot service, which will test the companies' ability to supply about 1,000 subscription payers with digital television programs, directly on their cell phones.
But this is not the only facility this new service has to offer, because the customers can also access
an Electronic Programme Guide, which they can use even for scheduling alerts for the moment their favorite show is on. According to Virgin Mobile, the television service will be extended, in order to allow the viewers the possibility of recording the programs on their mobile phones.
The first channels to be accessible through this service will be Sky Sports News, Sky News and Blaze, a music programme created especially for mobile television, as well as 50 digital radio stations.
The test will take place for a four-month period, and the programs will be transmitted using the DAP digital radio network. This solution has been preferred above all others, because it's a safe and proven one and, by comparison with NTL, it does not require new transmitters and additional 3G spectrum for its broadcasts.
For the first time we have real convergence; you can make calls, listen to digital radio and watch TV, all on one handset.", said Will Westley, representing the mobile television unit within BT Livetime.
Other mobile telephony operators, including Vodafone Group, O2 and Orange, are testing a parallel technology for broadcasting television directly on the mobile phones, the DVB-H standard.
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