Nokia offloads mobile TV unit

Nokia is selling its business-facing mobile TV unit to Indian IT services firm, Wipro, in a clear signal that the mobile giant is failing to capitalise on mobile TV.

The deal, due to be announced later this week, will see Wipro take over Nokia's Mobile Broadcast Solutions Division, according to reports. This unit is responsible for creating software and hardware that connect phones’ mobile TV capabilities with mobile broadcasting networks. The unit employs roughly 40 staff.

Nokia denies that it is completely pulling its mobile TV operations. However, the sale indicates that it is finding little value in the unit, with consumers proving slow to take up mobile TV.  

"We wanted to focus on the consumer side of things, the mobile TV client in the devices, rather than on the business-to-business side," a Nokia spokesman tells Reuters.

Last September, Nokia launched a free mobile TV channel for its new N96 phone in the UK, with users able to watch tailor-made 96-second "mobisodes". The launch came a week after Nokia signed a deal with the BBC allowing N96 users to access its popular iPlayer catchup service.  

Though mobile operators are keen to exploit the multimedia capabilities of smartphones, moves into mobile broadcast TV have largely fallen flat. Problems with costs, regulation and content have come up against sluggish user uptake.

In February, an ABI Research report claimed there would be 500m mobile users subscribed to mobile TV packages by 2013. However, it warned that not all subscribers would watch the content and that mobile TV would only take off when offered as a product independent from other mobile services.