Channels from five broadcasters will be part of a mobile TV trial in Oxford beginning in July, NTL Broadcast and O2 have confirmed.

The six-month trial will begin in July before rolling out to 350 O2 customers in September 2005. The channels will be transmitted using the DVB-H transmission standard - a standard specifically designed for mobile TV reception - to trialists using the Nokia 7710 handset.

"We have had overwhelming interest in involvement from across the broadcast and media sector and we’re delighted to be able to welcome on board the first batch of major broadcasters," said Terry Howard, head of media business development at NTL Broadcast. "We know from our own research that well over half of UK mobile users are very interested in watching their favourite TV programmes on their mobiles, which is why we are aiming to put together such a compelling channel line-up. This trial will give a useful insight into how the new technology performs, and we intend to use that information to inform the broadcasters, mobile operators and Ofcom about the consumer appeal of the service. We look forward to welcoming other channel providers and terrestrial broadcasters on board for the trial."

The channels confirmed for the trial are: Sky: Sky News, Sky Sports News, Sky Travel; Chart Show Channels Ltd: Chart Show TV; Discovery Networks Europe: Discovery Channel; Shorts International: Shorts TV; Turner Broadcasting: CNN, Cartoon Network.

"We see this trial as a key way to understand how to provide mobile users with a useful and entertaining service whilst out and about," said Dave Williams, chief technology officer at O2. "It will give us invaluable insight into how to structure the service offering for consumers, and, because of this, popular and well-known content is crucial to the trial’s success. We believe that mobile broadcast TV has the potential to sit alongside our existing customer services based on GPRS (2.5G) and 3G mobile data networks. Mobile broadcast TV aims to be a cost effective method for transmitting high quality content from one source to multiple customers whereas 3G is ideal for providing bespoke content to users."

NTL Broadcast is in the process of building a transmission network for the trial, consisting of eight transmitters on existing masts. The company is aiming to cover 120 square kilometers centering on Oxford.