JupiterResearch: Mobile Thoughts from Europe

Thomas Husson at JupiterResearch posts the following thoughts on some recent news from out of Europe regarding the mobile scene:

• Sky will try MediaFlo in the UK this summer. As explained several times, this is still trial time for mobile TV. There is no geographical norm yet: DVB-H for Europe, DMB for Asia (slightly over 500k users on S-DMB a year after launch: is South Korea such an advanced market?) and DVB-H for Europe. Forbes event pointed out a new technology in Hong-kong called CMB standing for Cell Multimedia Broadcasting...Welcome to the complex world of war norms.
• Vivendi's break up ? CEO Levy denied a 40 bn euros proposal from Sebastian Holdings. This investor would like to split the conglomerate and to sell Canal+ to maximize shareholders' revenues. In the meantime, even if it is not that strategic for Vodafone to buy SFR (cash flows already integrated, many synergies already in place,...), it remains an interesting option at a time where Vodafone is reviewing its participations worldwide. The fiscal and financial issues are of the outmost importance here but from an industry analyst point of view, I am not really convinced by the need to own the content and the pipe.
• Bouygues announced a major investment in Alstom. Almost at the same time, TF1 mobile was launched as a license agreement with Bouygues Telecom. Coincidence ? Well, when both subsdiaries invest in the same business and when you look at a new growth sector, it generally means the business is maturing...So here we have a conglomerate investing in an international brick and mortar strategy and a French-only media & telecom business.