The EC, it seems, can’t get enough of talking up mobile data and that old nearly-ran mobile TV. The Commission has announced it’s started a selection process for a new satellite provider across Europe, who will be able to sell “high speed data, mobile TV, disaster relief and remote medical services under a single European selection procedure instead of under 27 different national systemsâ€.
If all goes to plan, the network will be up and running from next year, with all member countries guaranteeing the winning bidder will be able to run a service in their country using reserved spectrum.
I suspect the opportunity to run mobile TV services won’t be the carrot for would-be providers here: opening up mobile access and telemedicine in some of Europe’s most remote regions could be both worthy and profitable for network operators.