BT drops Virgin Mobile TV

By Stevie Smith Jul 27, 2007, 14:02 GMT

Less than a year after BT Group PLC partnered with Virgin Mobile to provide handset owners with access to an on-the-go broadcast TV service, BT has announced that it is abandoning its support for the Mobile TV platform due to unsatisfactory consumer traction.

Moreover, apart from the abrupt dropping of Virgin’s Mobile TV format, BT has said it will also dismantle BT Movio, which was being positioned in order to deliver the Mobile TV platform internationally. A Guardian Unlimited report indicates that Virgin Mobile TV will likely be binned completely during the first quarter of 2008 as BT has also pulled the plug with GCap Media, which presently provides the necessary service spectrum.

"BT is discussing the timescale for the closure of the service with Virgin Mobile. While the feedback from users on the service has been complimentary, Movio sales have been slower than originally expected mainly due to a lack of compatible devices from the big brands," commented a BT spokesman. "This in turn has been caused by the fragmented nature of the mobile TV market and hesitancy on the part of the main network operators as they seek to fill their own largely under-utilised 3G networks."

Virgin Mobile TV, which initially went live in October of 2006 alongside a multi-million dollar promotional campaign, offered customers five channels of "broadcast" content, namely BBC1, ITV, Channel 4, E4, and ITN news. However, the service has failed to pique consumer interest, despite its Pamela Anderson-fronted advertising, with the Guardian reporting that fewer than 10,000 handset owners have thus far opted in.

Specific criticism has been levelled at the unwieldy Virgin Mobile TV "Lobster" handset – as it came to be known – which certainly hasn’t enamoured itself as the only compatible handset open to interested customers. Yet, it is believed that recent EU support for the Nokia-backed DVB-H TV service led to Mobile TV’s ultimate demise, with DVB-H offering as many as 16 broadcast channels while receiving the support of operators such as O2.