New Zealand will launch a DVB-H trial through state owned broadcast network operator Kordia, and is likely to rollout DVB-H alongside its DVB-T implementation.
Kordia estimates that it may cost as little as $10 million to build in DVB-H for a city the size of Auckland. Kordia is already building a DVB-T network for Freeview, a free to air digital terrestrial consortium and will offer DVB-H on trial as free to air as well.
But whether or not it actually goes on to build out a nationwide network relies on whether or not the major New Zealand broadcasters or cellphone operators decide to pick up the bill for extending the network.
During the trial Kordia will broadcast TV1, TV2, TV3, Prime, Sky Sports and the TAB channel from a single digital terrestrial television transmitter that had been modified to send DVB-H signals using equipment supplied by Nokia.
New Zealand was not expected to enter mobile TV until it had established the DVB-T network among customers, which would take 2 or 3 years but now may be far earlier by building them out in parallel.