Ireland dumps plans for mobile TV licences

Ireland's telecom regulator, the Commission for Communication Regulation (ComReg), announced it is abandoning a proposal to issue a mobile broadcast TV licence, following an almost complete lack of interest in its plans.

Only Vodafone Ireland expressed any interest in acquiring the licence which was intended to cover five urban areas. In a statement ComReg said, "it became apparent to ComReg that use of the identified spectrum to provide a mobile TV service in Ireland was not the subject of particularly strong interest to potential operators, and interest in the proposed procedure to grant the authorisation diminished."

Despite the setback, ComReg says it will "keep under review the potential for the identification of spectrum which would enable the award of dedicated licences for mobile TV," adding that in future, technology-neutral awards of UHF spectrum could be used for mobile broadcast TV.

For more:
- see this Telegeography article

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