China sets technical standard for mobile TV

China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said it has set a home-grown technical standard for broadcasting multimedia content such as television programs to mobile devices, in a move to boost the provision of mobile-TV services, The Wall Street Journal reported. The agency's move comes as China tries to kick start the development of its own technologies, including the third-generation, or 3G, mobile-phone technology called Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, in a bid to stem patent payments to foreign companies, said the paper. Competition for mobile-TV viewers, who can choose to watch TV using 3G mobile phones or the broadcast standard, could arise later, said Dave Carini, a Beijing-based analyst at Maverick China Research, a telecom, media and technology market-research firm. "You have the same capabilities over the same device. That's where the fight will take place," he said.