Television viewing on mobile phones will reach the masses by 2008, the world's largest cell phone maker Nokia said on Thursday.
Dozens of trials in the last year have shown the mobile industry that consumers enjoy mobile TV and, more importantly, that they are willing to pay from $6 to $12 (5 to 10 euros) a month for it.
"In 2006 ... mobile TV is expected to become available in select markets and to reach mass market by 2008," Nokia said in its 20-F annual regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
Excited by the prospects of a possible cash cow, the mobile and broadcast industries are keen to launch commercial services in Europe and the United States, while South Korea already has them in operation.
There are currently half a dozen mobile TV technologies which work in many different parts of the frequency band.
Nokia favours the European DVB-H standard, but the preferred frequencies are not available throughout the continent. That means certain countries like Finland, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands will adopt it commercially in coming months and years, but others may take much longer.