Japan's NTT DoCoMo chosen for mobile broadcasting: reports

A key government advisory panel picked a consortium led by NTT DoCoMo to build the infrastructure for multimedia digital broadcasting for mobile handsets, reports said Wednesday.

The advisory panel for the communications minister sided with the consortium that pushed its original standards with domestic technology, according to major media including Kyodo News.

Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi is expected to make his official decision as early as this week, the Mainichi Shimbun's online edition said.

The DoCoMo-led group is seen offering less expensive programmes, compared with a rival bid from a group led by another Japanese telecom giant KDDI, which adopted existing technologies available in the United States.

Multimedia broadcasting, set to start 2012, will use allow digital distribution of such media contents as television shows, music and games to mobile devices, such as mobile phones, game consoles and iPad.

(c) 2010 AFP