MFD, Neva Media Form Mobile TV JV In Germany

By Ingrid Lunden Aug. 13, 2007, 1:02pm Comments Off

Rival German mobile TV concerns Neva Media and MFD are teaming up for a DVB-H-based mobile TV service — provided they win licenses (awards will be announced by the end of this year). MFD already runs a DMB-based TV service, but the German government has effectively endorsed the competing mobile TV standard DVB-H, which was also backed by the EU in July. The German Competition Office has also given the approval to a consortium of mobile operators to jointly develop infrastructure for a mobile TV service. (the news release on the Neva/MFD deal, in German, is at the Neva Media link above)

Neva and MFD will provide the content and technology expertise for the service themselves: behind the mobile JV, the deal is also a partnership between three media powerhouses, Hubert Burda Media and Holtzbrinck (who control Neva Media) and South Africa’s Naspers (MFD).

The service is expected to launch in 2008, notes Telecom Paper.