TV is set to get mobile in 2008

Nokia's mobile TV device is a world first. Picture / Reuters

Television viewing on mobile phones will reach the masses by 2008, the world's largest cellphone maker says.

Nokia said dozens of trials in the past year had shown the mobile industry that consumers enjoyed mobile TV and, more importantly, that they were willing to pay from €5 ($9) to €10 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 United States' 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 US - South Korea already has them. Half-a-dozen mobile TV technologies work in many different parts of the frequency band.

- REUTERS