China’s regulatory body for broadcasting, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television (SARFT), has authorized China Digital TV as a Mobile TV solution developer.

China Digital TV has also stated that under the contract signed with Zhongguang Satellite Mobile Broadcasting Corporation, a subsidiary of SARFT, China Digital TV will develop Electronic Service Guide (ESG) solutions based on China Mobile (News - Alert) Multimedia Broadcasting (CMMB) standards.

China Digital TV is a provider of conditional access ("CA (News - Alert)") systems to China's digital television market. CA systems enable television network operators to manage the delivery of customized content and services to their subscribers.

"We are pleased that SARFT has once again chosen China Digital TV as their technology solution partner," said Mr. Jianhua Zhu, China Digital TV's chief executive officer. He continued, "SARFT's selection helps us gain an important foothold into the mobile TV market, a market with immense potential. China's digital TV industry is evolving with the development of multiple viewing platforms. This wealth of new outlets provides China Digital TV with many opportunities for growth."

The CMMB standards are formulated as a Chinese broadcasting platform for mobile devices such as mobile phones, PDAs, MP4 devices and laptop computers. 

CMMB services were recently launched in 37 cities in China including Beijing, Shanghai and Tianjin. During the 2008 Olympic Games beginning this August, CCTV, China's central television station, will broadcast Olympic programming to CMMB users.

According to Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of mobile phone subscribers in China reached approximately 600 million by the end of May 2008.

In China, the potential market for ESG usage is very broad as more than 300 network operators are expected to install head-end ESG applications and terminal-end ESG software will be adopted by millions of mobile device users.
 

Source:tmcnet