Rafat pointed to a half-story last night on MocoNews.net, now the broadcaster’s press people have confirmed it to me. The BBC is partnering with three UK carriers to offer live streamed TV and radio channels to mobile handsets. Orange, Vodafone and 3 UK will broadcast BBC ONE, BBC Three and BBC News 24 plus radio stations as part of a trial beginning in a month. Each network already operates mobile TV subscription services that variously include BBC rival ITV and BSkyB channels. BBC’s director of future media and technology Ashley Highfield, in a statement: “We hope to test not only the effectiveness of 3G as a means of distribution, but also how audiences respond to the BBC’s linear services on their mobiles. The findings, combined with quantitative and qualitative consumer research, will inform the BBC’s future mobile strategy.” The corporation has also launched a new version of its bbc.co.uk/mobile site for PDA and WAP users, which it said got 84 million views in January whilst experiencing 100 percent year-on-year usage growth.
- Mid-East: Meanwhile, technology provider Javna says it is to deliver a live stream of the BBC World channel to customers of Jordan Telecom subsidiary MobileCom. Javna has previously delivered the likes of CNBC Arabiya to handsets in Arabic nations.