UAE mobile TV licence winner to be announced in March

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the UAE expects the successful bidder for the country’s first mobile TV licence to be announced in March.

TRA’s Al Ghanim said non-operator parties were welcome to submit bids for the mobile TV licence, which will offer services using DVB-H technology

The TRA confirmed it received feedback from nine separate organisations on the draft document, following the start of consultation in June 2008. However, it has not been declared how many proposals were received by the time the extended deadline closed on December 31.

“The applicants were not limited to companies having telecom licences. Any entity fulfilling the criteria set out in the document was welcomed to put in a proposal,” commented the TRA’s director general Mohamed Al Ghanim.

The proposed mobile TV service will be provided through DVB-H technology, which allows the mass broadcast of TV content as opposed to the 3G streaming already offered by UAE incumbents Etisalat and Du.