Mobile TV now available on China Mobile

Service has free and paid channels that run on tablets and smartphones.

China Mobile Ltd., the world’s largest phone company by users, began its mobile television service called UTV in Hong Kong yesterday. UTV can also run on portable media players using China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting software.

Despite running on the Android operating system of Google Inc., the service also works on Apple Inc. iPhones using a dongle.

China Mobile expects the new mobile TV service to increase data traffic on its fourth generation wireless network and create another revenue stream as a media content distributor.

China Mobile CEO Sean Lee said Hong Kong is a very special environment, so a lot of new services can be tested here.

“We believe mobile and multimedia platforms are converging,” he said.

Free programs available with the service include user-generated content and TVB News. Paid packages costing HK$58 (US$7.50) a month give users access to content including MNC International, Mei Ah HD Movie Channel, Star Chinese Channel, Cartoon Network and Nat Geo Wild.

China Mobile had 703 million subscribers at the end of October, including 79.3 million users of high-speed, third-generation services that give smartphones faster Internet access.