3G Mobile TV Being Tested in London and Slough

TV on your mobile is a regular thing over in Japan and a few years ago T-Mobile tried it and so did Virgin Mobile with its Lobster.

Three brave operators by the names of Orange, O2 and Vodafone are set to start a three month trial in the exotic environs of Slough and West London. From October they will team up with Ericsson, IPWireless, and Streamezzo to bounce live TV via 3G to a group of guinea pigs clutching mobile phones. I’m guessing these will actually be human test subjects and not a bunch of gadgety rodents.

Apparently this integrated mobile broadcast (IMB) technology uses the bit of the 3G spectrum that doesn’t have anything to do with the reception and transmission of calls and stuff – so there’s no need to fear that your call wont get through when ‘enders is on.

Will this be an added bonus or something that you really hope works? Does your answer stay the same if you have to have a bolt-on package or pay a separate subscription?

Let’s face it – with the current data caps being added to tariffs is mobile TV even going to get a chance?

Let me know below 🙂