Vodafone Germany doubts pay TV's viability

Offering pay TV services on mobile phones has no chance of success with the arrival of handsets that receive terrestrial TV broadcasts, claims Fritz Joussen, head of Vodafone's German business. Joussen maintains that the business model for the mobile Pay TV market in Germany has undergone a significant shift with the introduction of these terrestrial handsets, and has become 'difficult.'

The company, which lost out last autumn in its attempt--together with T-Mobile and Telefonica--to gain a mobile TV licence, is now looking at a strategy to sell add-on services to mobile TV users such as music tracks that the subscriber might have viewed on TV. "But I will not support mobile TV that customers have to pay for if there is a risk that they will spend less money on other services," Joussen said.

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