BANGALORE, INDIA: The Indian telecom regulator's decision to clear the air surrounding the launch of mobile TV by broadcasting companies and telecom service providers is an indicator of their effort to scale internationally. Encouraged by the positive result following mobile operators' field trials globally, many Indian telecom companies are getting ready to plunge into the mobile TV business. But, this will happen only when the telecom regulator, TRAI, comes out with a comprehensive policy and identifies suitable spectrum bands. 

Global markets are slightly ahead of India. Mobile broadcasting commercial services have already been launched in the US, Korea, Finland, and Germany among others. In India, Doordarshan has already started a mobile TV project and is in the process of rolling out commercial services. Mobile handsets maker Nokia is running a pilot project with national broadcaster Doordarshan to test the feasibility for commercial rollout of this service.

In the race
Telecom service providers are not far behind in the race. Spice Telecom, the mobile service provider in Punjab, has unveiled Spice TV whereby its subscribers can watch live cricket on their mobile phones for the first time in India. Spice Telecom, the official telecom partner for the recently concluded Indian Cricket League, is now poised to enter a new level altogether with this service. Besides cricket, Spice Telecom subscribers can choose from a bouquet of thirteen channels such as NDTV, Times Now, Zoom, Bindaas, Cartoon Network among others.

However, market analysts say that translating mobile TV ventures in India into profit may take more time. Mobile operators have enjoyed revenue streams from voice and data, and with the media coming into the picture, mobile TV will be a stream to earn revenue, but only later. Broadcast TV on mobile handsets has seen good take up in South Korea and Japan, but even with five million viewers, the operators in these countries are having difficulties to break even.

Considering the price sensitive mobile subscriber-base in India, offering free TV services in the initial phase since the launch and running advertisements would be a better option for operators. Availability of cost-effective handsets will be another hurdle along the way.