KPN to launch mobile TV next week
AMSTERDAM, May 29 (Reuters) - Dutch telecoms group KPN (KPN.AS) will offer television broadcasts for specially equipped mobile phones beginning from June for 10 euros ($15.6) per month, it said on Thursday.
KPN launches broadcasts of 10 channels on June 5 and will initially sell two handsets, one from Samsung (005930.KS) and one from LG (066570.KS). It plans later to offer Nokia (NOK1V.HE) handsets as well.
The former Dutch telecoms monopoly will broadcast television using DVB-H, or Digital Video Broadcasting Handheld, a sister standard of DVB-T that is used for terrestrial digital TV broadcasts across Europe.
KPN is in a better position than companies in countries such as Germany, where operators may lose out because of handsets that can pick up the terrestrial signal, a process that until recently was too power-hungry for most phone batteries. [ID:nL27619020]
In the Netherlands, terrestrial TV broadcasts also require a subscription, with the exception of public TV channels. (Reporting by Niclas Mika, editing by Will Waterman)
