Digital TV operator Mobiele TV Nederland (MTVNL) will launch its T-DMB broadcast in the greater The Hague area this year, followed by a nationwide roll-out in the first quarter of 2010. In February, MTVNL won a licence for terrestrial digital TV and has opted for the T-DMB (Digital Media Broadcast) standard. In 2010, MTVNL will offer 98 percent coverage outdoors and 90 percent indoors. The company will offer several dedicated TV feeds, developed with the three media groups Dutch Public Broadcasters, RTL and SBS and production company IDTV. Leading shows will be brought in a format adapted for mobile consumption, such as news channel NOS24. A company spokesman says that enough T-DMB ready devices are avaiable, mainly from LG and Samsung, but Nokia as well, in all price ranges. Apart from at least two handsets, portable video players and dongles for notebooks will be on offer through multiple retail channels. An agreement in principle has been reached with T-Mobile, while talks with Vodafone and KPN are under way. The Netherlands are part of a group of EU members that want to go ahead with DAB digital radio, to which DMB is related. Broad coverage should be reached within five years. The German car industry is also working on more models with TV receivers.
