With mobile TV's interactivity possibilities, consumers are in a position to engage with and contribute to the TV experience, and TV is turning from traditional broadcasting into pretty much whatever consumers want - wherever and whenever they want it.

Niclas Medman, marketing director at Business Unit Multimedia, says the time for mobile TV is right now. "And it is not only happening in America," he says. "Ericsson has more than 50 mobile TV customers, each new launch now typically offering 20 to 40 live TV channels and on-demand content over existing cellular networks."

About 90 percent of the more than 120 launches worldwide of mobile TV services to date are aired through mobile networks, using EDGE, WCDMA and HSPA networks, and promoting interactivity through the networks' available uplinks.

Alternative technologies - such as DVB-H and DMB - broadcast content through dedicated networks. The benefit of these broadcasting alternatives is that huge audiences can view the same TV show at the same time. "But they don't have uplinks, so you still have to use the existing networks for interactivity," Medman says. "By using the Multimedia Broadcast Multicast Service (MBMS) in the mobile networks, it is possible to deliver the benefits of interactivity and broadcasting within the same network."

To ensure the success of future mobile TV launches, operators need to think carefully about national and indoor coverage, attractive content, available handsets, pricing models and service usability, Medman says.

One example of how Ericsson can help operators improve usability is the Electronic Program Guide (EPG), available as part of Ericsson's mobile TV and video solution. EPG is a digital TV guide that downloads a full range of TV options to your handset.

Another example is interactive commercial advertisement. "Norwegian broadcaster NRK and Ericsson developed non-interruptive, simultaneous commercial ads for their mobile TV initiative using existing mobile networks and handsets," Medman says. "The click-through rate was at an astonishing 13 percent for their interactive ads, in contrast to an internet average of 0.2 percent."

With commercial coverage figures like that, mobile TV is likely to attract operators worldwide. Last year, Belgian operator Proximus announced that it will be launching mobile TV in 2007. Michel Georgis, CEO of Proximus, is confident about mobile TV's future success. "We see mobile TV as a strategic and logical evolution of the mobile services we offer to our customers and we will be very happy to offer them the advanced and easy-to-use solution from Ericsson."