Europe Rome : LG Electronics announced the launch of the LG-U900, the world’s first commercially available UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phone, at a ceremony in Rome, Italy. The LG-U900 will be available early May through Hutchison, a leading global telecommunications services provider, in time for the 2006 World Cup.

Hutchison Italy, the country’s largest 3G telecommunications provider, has exclusive DVB-H broadcasting rights for the 2006 World Cup. The company will provide video footage of all World Cup matches beginning June 6, through the Hutchison’s service channels, ‘La3’.

Hutchison plans to offer the LG UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phone to customers world-wide, after initially establishi ng a base in Italy.

Mr. Mun-Hwa Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, said: “We are so proud that LG is supplying the world’s first commercially available UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phone through Hutchison Italy. LG has already proven its unrivalled mobile multimedia technology in 3G markets by introducing a seri es of first-of-their-kind models including SDMB and TDMB handsets. LG will continue to introduce advanced te chnology that is second-to-none in the mobile TV industry.”

Mr. Vincenzo Novari, the CEO of Hutchison Italia said at the ceremony, “With support from LG Electronics, our company will strengthen its leadership in the 3G mobile communication market.”

LG’s new LG-U900 DVB-H handset features a 2.2-inch ‘wide-swing’ screen for mobile TV viewing. Its premium digital broadcasting functions include ESG (Electronics Service Guide) and CAS (Conditional Access System).

These functions shall support enhanced business models for mobile and broadcasting operators. Users can watch TV for up to three hours because of the phone’s long battery life. The LG-U900 is also equipped with a 1.3 mega-pixel & VGA digital camera, an internal memory capacity of 58MB.

The UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H technology evolved from DVB-T, European terrestrial digital broadcast technology, becoming the European mobile broadcast standard. It provides high-speed data transmission, a variety of channels, a high-resolution screen and strong mobile broadcasting.

LG produces handsets using all available mobile broadcast technologies including DVB-H, DMB and MediaFLO. I n January 2006, LG became the first company to develop and introduce 3G UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H, CDMA MediaFLO an d DMB phones. LG introduced the world’s first 3G UMTS (WCDMA) TDMB phone, the LG-V9000, in September 2005.

According to Strategy Analytics, a predominant worldwide handset market analysis company, mobile TV phones w ill reach 8 million units globally by the end of 2006 and the mobile TV market is expected to grow to 120 million subscribers by 2010.

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