French media companies and cellular operators are debating whether to offer mobile television that’s free, paid or a combination thereof, says an item in TelecomPaper from Les Echos.
The article (“Television sur mobile: partisans des modeles payant et gratuit s’affrontent”) says French media companies BFM, Bollore, Lagardere and NRJ want to offer free service. The cellular operators want to offer (surprise, surprise) paid mobile TV for perhaps 5 euros ($6.73) to 15 euros ($20.21) per month.
French cellular operators Bouygues Telecom and Orange want paid mobile TV, the article said.
TelecomPaper says French broadcasters want a combination of free and paid, while Sony has indicated it would like free subscriptions.
Mobile TV licenses
France’s broadcasting regulatory authority CSA (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) is slated to issue license requests in October. CSA says most of the companies that responded to requests for information about mobile TV said they would like at least some paid components.
Companies also are pondering whether advertising could be used to provide free or less expensive mobile TV services.
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