RABAT, Morocco – Sometimes new tech shows up in the oddest of places. And so it is that mobile TV is currently being rolled out across Morocco, starting with Rabat and Casablanca and another eight cities being added before the end of the year and 20 cities by the end of next year.
Nokia was involved in the platform which uses the DVB-H standard (recently championed by the EU as the defacto standard for mobile TV).
Moroccan broadcaster SNRT is rolling out the service with two general
channels Al Oula and 2M and three themed channels for a bit of
entertainment.
This new service follows the one launched in Singapore last Saturday.
But when are we going to see Mobile TV roll out in Europe? There’s no
real sign yet that it’s going to happen anytime soon. Which is a shame.
We know the UK airwaves are clogged up right now and until the analogue
signal is switched off, we’re unlikely to see anything happen there.
Sometimes it’s the countries that are way ahead which get left behind.
When 3G rolled out we saw countries which had little or no mobile
network jump ahead and roll out a spanking new 3G network. Here we are
again with Morocco hardly the hotbed of new technology (no offense to
anyone in Morocco) leaping ahead and rolling out a service that the
rest of us in tech-rich countries can only dream about. Good for them.
Photo by DJRue