The BBC will launch its first applications for the iPhone, including the iPlayer catch-up television service, as it tries to replicate the popularity of its online content on mobile phones. Applications based on its news, sport and iPlayer video services will be offered free of charge from April. With smartphone sales expected to increase this year, the BBC said that audiences were looking for more content on their mobile phones.
The new apps will allow football fans to watch every BBC England game live on their devices, and clips of every goal scored in this summer’s World Cup. The BBC News app will deliver breaking news video and the latest stories to smartphones, as well as features and analysis from its website and correspondents. It is likely to boost the take-up of smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone and could put further strain on mobile networks that have struggled to handle the amount of data traffic. Deloitte predicts that smartphone sales could reach half a billion units a year worldwide by 2012.
The BBC has the second-most popular website in the UK, behind Google, and has already launched a number of mobile services, including the iPlayer on selected handsets and applications for its Lonely Planet travel site and Radio Times magazine.
Although the BBC, which made the announcement at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, will launch initially on the iPhone, it is also looking to make the application available on rival platforms, such as Google’s Android and RIM’s BlackBerry.
Erik Huggers, director of the BBC’s future media and technology division, said: “It’s been 12 years since the launch of BBC Online, but, as media converges and technology accelerates, licence fee payers are increasingly using sophisticated handheld devices to access information. They tell us that they want to access the digital services that they have paid for at a time and place that suits them.”
A television licence is not needed to watch catch-up TV on the iPlayer, but it is required to watch shows that are also being broadcast at the same time. Many publications have launched iPhone applications and analysts argue that the BBC’s free applications will increase tension with companies looking to offer paid-for content.
Applications have been central to this year’s mobile industry conference, the largest in the world. However, many companies have turned their attention to upgrading to 4G technology to support the increasing demand for smartphones. Mobile companies, including Vodafone, are keen to start charging media companies that offer consumers bandwidth-heavy services such as video to use the network.
A theme at the congress has been the “democratisation” of the smartphone, with several leading manufacturers launching cheaper alternatives to Apple’s premium device. Ernest Doku, of Omio.com, said that many consumers wanted the functionality of smartphones but were unwilling to pay considerably more than conventional mobiles. “Manufacturers are meeting them halfway with devices that offer social media with a high-quality touch experience in a more affordable device,” the mobile phone expert said.
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