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Carriers Least Likely to Benefit from Mobile TV

TelecomTV reports that mobile operators around the globe will be concerned at a new poll of telecoms analysts conducted by Reuters. Most questioned said they expect mobile TV, the service on which so many carriers are pinning their hopes and betting their shirts, will be a comparative failure.

The problem, analysts say, is that content providers have little incentive to cut operators in on margins as nascent live mobile broadcasting technologies such as DMB, DVB-H and MediaFlo do not rely on (as in by-pass) cellular networks.

�I think content providers and broadcasters may be the two parties that will benefit from mobile broadcasting. You don't need mobile operators' networks to broadcast. The value that operators give to customers is very low,� noted Gartner analyst, Eleana Liew.

Observers point to two key indicators that run counter to previous optimistic projections. Content providers have snapped up the bulk of the $5 billion generated by ringtones, while a pioneering DMB service, launched by the South Korean operator SK Telecom, has seen 75 percent of associated revenue diverted to programme makers.

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