SEOUL, South Korea — South Korean mobile phone maker LG Electronics Co. Ltd. said Friday (April 28) it will supply UMTS (WCDMA) DVB-H phones, trademarked LG-U900, to Hutchison Italia, the largest 3G telecommunications service carrier in Italy.
Claimed to be the first commercially available WCDMA-enabled DVB-H phone, the LG-U900 will be marketed from early May through Hutchison, which has exclusive DVB-H phone broadcasting rights for the 2006 World Cup soccer finals.
Hutchison Italia will provide video footage of all World Cup matches beginning June 6, through Hutchison’s service channel, "La3". The company plans to offer the LG phone globally after establishing a base in Italy, according to LG.
The shipment volume in the Italian deal was not available immediately.
The LG-U900 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, according to LG.
Users can watch TV for up to three hours on the LG-U900, which also has a 1.3 mega-pixel VGA digital camera and an internal 58 MB memory, LG said.
LG introduced the first 3G UMTS (WCDMA) TDMB phone, the LG-V9000, in Sept. 2005.
Meanwhile, LG's arch-rival Samsung Electronics has also announced it will supply its own 3G WCDMA-enabled DVB-H phones to Telecom Italia and Hutchison Italy next month.
