Brussels, 02/08/2004 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission intends to promote interoperability of interactive digital television services on Community territory. In a communication adopted on Friday by the written procedure, it says that it is too soon to make it obligatory to apply one or several standards and proposes different measures so that the member states continue to facilitate the deployment of digital services using the MHP (Multimedia Home Platform) standard. MHP is currently the only open standard for APIs (applications program interfaces), which are the software stacks which allow viewers to interact directly with TV broadcasts, play games or send messages.
"In view of the complexity of the technological and market environment, the very different perceptions of interoperability held by market players and the fact that digital TV has not yet taken off on a large scale in many member states, we felt that the digital television market should continue to develop unhindered for the present", said Olli Rehn, the Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner. The Commission is therefore proposing a series of measures to promote the deployment of interactive digital services using the MHP standard, such as: - the creation of a member state group to coordinate the implementation of the MHP standard; - the option for states to grant consumer subsidies (while still respecting Community state aid rules) to make MHP receivers affordable; - Commission monitoring of access to proprietary technologies for digital television.
The Commission will revisit the issue in the second half of 2005 to see whether market developments have contributed to interoperability of digital TV services before deciding whether or not to enforce obligatory standards in this area.