A drive by the European Commission to endorse a single technology for TV broadcasts on mobile phones has come under fire from Germany, Britain and the Netherlands. Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Information Society and Media, in July revealed plans to back the Nokia and Motorola-supported DVB-H format as a potential official European mobile TV standard. According to a paper seen by the Financial Times and currently being prepared for a meeting of European telecoms ministers in Brussels on Thursday, many European countries believe DVB-H should be a “non-mandatory” standard.

The Financial Times cites an EU diplomat as stating: “We question whether it is sound industrial policy to back one standard. Give some credit to the market. Let the market look at this itself and get things going.” A British government spokesman is reported as saying, “It is too early to signal or mandate any one technology for mobile phone television.” Rival systems to DVB-H include MediaFLO from Qualcomm and DMB, widely in use in South Korea.