Local cellphone users will soon be able to watch television broadcasts on their mobile phones, as local telecommunications companies are scheduled to launch the high-bandwidth next-generation, or 3G, services in the second half this year, Nokia Oyj's local branch said yesterday.
The introduction of 3G services will make it possible to download or watch videos.
"It will definitely become a trend to watch short digital clips, movie trailers, news or sports on mobile phones ... It could be just a few months away," said Loren Shuster, general manager of Nokia's Taiwan branch.
The nation's major players in the cellphone market, led by state-run Chunghwa Telecom (中華電信), consider streaming video to be one of the key features setting 3G technology apart from the 2.5G technology currently in use, he said.
Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Taiwan's second largest cellphone service providers, is widely expected to launch a 3G service in Taiwan, as its license requires the company to roll out the service by mid-July.
"But it will take time to see the function becoming more pervasive," Shuster said.
The current limited availability of content would make the service less alluring to cellphone users, Shuster said.
He expects more extensive content to be released in the next year or two.
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