Virgin to offer live TV, radio over mobiles

Virgin Mobile has signed up to BT's new service offering live TV and radio channels to mobile phone users.

'BT Movio', launching at the end of the year, will deliver a "wide range" of digital TV stations and more than 350 digital radio stations using the existing DAB network.

The announcement coincided with the unveiling of 'The Trilogy', the world's first DAB-IP enabled Smartphone that will screen the new TV service.

"Virgin Mobile customers will be the first people in Europe to watch real broadcast TV over their mobile phones," said Graeme Hutchinson, Virgin Mobile's director of sales and marketing. "It's not downloaded, it's not looped, it's real TV just like you get at home, and it's real DAB digital radio with crystal clear sound."

Virgin plans to offer the service on a "limited exclusive basis" to customers later this year. BT, meanwhile, promises to make BT Movio available to all UK mobile operators "in the future".