Feb 20 2006


British telco BT has announced that Virgin Mobile will be the first mobile operator to sign up for BT Movio, BT's upcoming broadcast digital TV and radio service for mobile phones. The announcement was made at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona.

The announcement coincided with the unveiling of the handset which will screen the new service. 'The Trilogy' is a DAB-IP enabled smart phone, reportedly the first of its kind. BT worked with  Microsoft and HTC in developing the phone.

BT has developed a relationship with Microsoft for the launch of the service. BT Movio will employ Windows Media technologies and Windows Media Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology to provide a secure and efficient broadcast environment. The Trilogy handset runs on the Windows Mobile 5.0 mobile operating system.

Under their agreement, Virgin Mobile will offer the broadcast service, set to launch later this year, to its customers.

 The service is expected to achieve unprecedented sound and video quality, as it will use the UK's existing digital audio broadcasting (DAB) network. Virgin Mobile will not be the exclusive provider of the service; BT Movio will eventually be available to all UK mobile operators