The company plans to start work this year on wireless TV broadcasts for mobile phones, known as DVB-H.
If all goes according to plan, people in Finland will be the first in Europe to be able to watch television programmes anywhere, anytime. To do so, they will have to buy a new smartphone capable of picking up TV broadcasts -- and get used to watching on a screen the size of a credit card.
Companies currently holding TV broadcast licenses will be allowed to broadcast over the DVB-H network. Broadcast permits for other program providers will be decided on later. Other content, such as games, will also be possible. Another kink to be worked out regards a copyright dispute. Efforts are underway to resolve that this spring. So far there are few devices capable of picking up such broadcasts, but Nokia and other suppliers will introduce pocket-sized TV handsets soon. The first stage of the network will cover the Helsinki region, Turku, Tampere and Oulu. Digita says the network should potentially reach 29% of people in Finland by the end of this year. Digita was spun off from the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) as a separate company in 1999. A year ago, it was bought by the French broadcast services group TDF. Digita took part in experimental mobile TV broadcasts last year.