Telstra, Microsoft and Broadcast Australia are planning a live demonstration showcase of mobile TV, as part of the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.

The plan is to provide Melbourne's first Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H), a technology that allows simultaneous transmission of television, radio, video, audio and Internet content to mobile phones, PDAs, PCs and other handheld devices.

The Melbourne showcase service will broadcast up to seven channels of live Commonwealth Games coverage including Channel Nine coverage of the Games on specially enabled Windows Mobile handheld devices.

Telstra Commonwealth Games executive, Mr Phill Sporton, said viewers will be able to catch medal-winning performances in the DVB-H showcase at the Telstra Discovery Centre in Birrarung Marr for the duration of the Games.

The handsets on display are the eTEN M600 Pocket PC Phone Edition, running the Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 software while the content is broadcast using Windows Media Video 9 compression technology to ensure efficient use of bandwidth.

Broadcast Australia is providing the transmission infrastructure for the showcase service.

DVB-H utilises the DVB suite of standards, of which DVB-T is currently used to deliver terrestrial digital television in Australia. DVB-H makes possible the delivery of TV, radio and data content to handheld devices and is specifically designed to optimise battery life by using a technique known as 'time-slicing'. DVB-H uses advanced video and audio coding and compression technologies to enable a considerable reduction in the bandwidth required to deliver an acceptable quality of service to small-screen devices.

The transmission of the DVB-H broadcast will begin on 15 March 2006 and end at the conclusion of the Closing Ceremony on 26 March 2006.