Updated below: European telecoms commissioner Vivian Reding has been pushing hard for DVB-H as the EU standard for mobile TV, but while it may be the officially backed standard, it doesn’t actually preclude EU states from pursuing other technologies. Case in point: in the UK, Orange and T-Mobile are backing TDtv and this summer will start a trial to offer 24 television channels to several thousand people in West London.

TheTimes.co.uk has an article noting that the summer promises to give mobile TV a huge boost, what with all of the sporting events going on, such as Euro 2008, the Olympics and Wimbledon. British operators are eager to use TDtv, since all of them except Vodafone (NYSE: VOD), were actually given TDD spectrum when they bought their 3G licenses in 2000 for a collective £22.5 billion. Moreover, operators can use their existing infratructure with TDD. But DVB-H has been used throughout Europa and Asia, and is proven commercially with at least two years headstart on TDtv. Plus TDtv isn’t supported by that many handsets and isn’t great passing through thick walls. Still, some analysts have argued that TDtv offers a cheaper way into mobile TV services, especially at a time where many operators are still struggling to get their mobile TV services to pay.

Robert adds: The European Commission today officially endorsed the decision to use DVB-H across the continent, a decision taken in July, saying: “Member states will be required to encourage the use of DVB-H.” Telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding argues DVB-H will give mass-market scale to TV services and roaming TV packages to consumers. She said Euro 2008 and the Olympics made ‘08 “a crucial year for mobile TV take-up in the EU”. She told last week’s DVB World Conference in Hungary tech stakeholders should work on open-standard DRM for DVB-H transmissions. And she said the next step was to allocate spectrum from digital dividend auctions to the new services.

• “I Decide, And That’s It”: Reding On Mobile TV Standards
• DVB-H To Become EU’s Official Mobile TV Standard
• Orange and T-Mobile To Trial Mobile TV Service in UK