Local German regulator LFK has been given the responsibility of gathering bids for an entire German DVB-H mobile TV network.
The bids need to be in by the 13th of April and the system needs to be up and running by the Spring of 2008, offering TV programs as well as audio channels. The request for bids says that DVB-H should be able to offer 16 mobile TV channels, with some programming being national and some regional.
The bidding appears to be for building the DVB-H transmitter multiplex but also for managing the various selection processes for what content will be on the service and which cellular operators will sell the service and under what terms.
Germany has long considered that Finland has the right kind of approach whereby a single broadcast specialist bids or managing the entire service for a cluster of content companies and cellular operators.
Germany already has one mobile TV service run by Debitel using the T-DMB standard and running over an existing DAB multiplex which has been largely ignored by consumers with only 3,000 customers signing up for it since last Summer.