Brussels, 31/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 30 August, the European Commission welcomed Uruguay's selection of the Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB) standards for its digital terrestrial and mobile TV. The terrestrial DVB standard, DVB-T, has already been adopted in Europe and by over 100 countries worldwide, and DBV-H is the standard preferred by the European Commission for mobile TV. EU Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said: 'I welcome Uruguay's choosing of the DVB standards, the first Latin American country to select the European standard. I trust that other countries in the region will follow soon. Digital TV is an opportunity for Uruguay and other Latin American countries to participate actively in the digital economy, by exploiting their potential to develop interactive content and products. The decisions that Latin American countries will take regarding the standard and the regulatory model for digital terrestrial and mobile TV will be important in this exciting growth area of the economy and to take advantage of the socio-economic potential offered by ICT convergence.' In 2006, Commissioner Reding visited South America, accompanied by a high-level delegation of representatives of major European companies, to confirm their commitment to invest and support the development of digital TV as well as to explore the possibilities for cooperation related to digital TV and the information society in general. In July 2007, the Commission encouraged member states and industry to use DBV-H,, DBV-T's sister standard, as the single European standard for mobile TV. DBV standards are open, universal and low-cost (allowing social inclusiveness). (ol)