"Hungary's second-largest mobile carrier, Pannon, is also contemplating to run in the tender of the National Communication Authority's (NCA) for Digital Video Broadcasting, news portal index.hu has reported on Tuesday. The site said Pannon has already bought the tender documents.At the end of March, the National Communications Authority of Hungary (NCAH) published an international tender for 12-year concessions to operate five digital television frequencies and a digital radio broadcasting network in the VHF range.
So far only Antenna Hungária (AH) said it would certainly participate in the tender.
Pannon told index.hu they were considering running in the tender, but declined to elaborate their plans on digital video broadcasting. Interestingly enough, Pannon has been painstakingly distancing itself from public tests, while its two rivals, Vodafone and T-Mobile - along with AH - jointly launched trial mobile television services, conducting a Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld (DVB-H) based mobile television test.
At the same time, Pannon has always communicated that they remained interested in that technology.
The digital broadcasts will be available not only on large-screen home appliances, but also on DVB-H-ready handsets, that is why mobile carriers keep an eye out for such tenders.
Of the three would-be contenders, only T-Mobile is not allowed to take part in the NCA tender, given that groups with more than 300,000 subscribers on the television broadcasting market must be excluded. T-Kábel, the cable television service provider in the Magyar Telekom group, exceeds this limit.
Vodafone told index.hu that there were not focusing on taking part in national terrestrial TV broadcasting alone.
Pannon, however, would propel itself into a highly favourable business position if it won the tender, as it could sit to the negotiating table with its rivals as an operator and discuss from this position under what conditions and at what charges its competitors could offer for mobile TV services.
Pannon would most likely be able to conjure up the minimal tender fee of HUF 300 m, considering that it has recently spent as much on the development of a health care portal.
While Pannon was extremely tight-lipped about the potentials it sees in mobile TV services, Vodafone and T-Mobile were not as withheld in their opinion. They both believe there is a need for this service in Hungary, expecting about 12-25 channels to be available on handsets.
The mobile carriers expect mostly young clients to jump on the new service, but the initial success will greatly depend on how deep their pockets are, since the DVB-H-ready handsets will be far from cheap.
Bids for national terrestrial digital television broadcasting (DVB-T) and terrestrial digital radio broadcasting (T-DAB) are welcome by 24 April.
Results of the bids are expected to be announced in the summer of 2008, and digital terrestrial broadcasting could start by the end of the year."
Source: Portfolio Online Financial Journal
16.04.2008