Mobile TV technology supplier Telegent Systems says that since its products became available on the market in mid-2007 it has now shipped more than 20 million mobile TV receivers.

Telegent's range of mobile TV receivers are designed to enable mobile handset users consumers to receive the same live, over-the-air programming that they view on conventional TV sets, whilst they are mobile.

Telegent says that hitting the milestone establishes the company as the leading provider of mobile TV technology and analogue broadcasts as the dominant standard for mobile TV viewing around the world.

Providing an analysis of the claim, Dr. Windsor Holden, principal analyst at Juniper Research said, "By delivering a TV feature on handsets that leverages the existing broadcast infrastructure, Telegent has introduced a game-changing innovation that allows manufacturers and operators to provide consumers with local popular programming. The rapid uptake that Telegent has experienced validates the type of TV viewing experience that appeals to consumers on handsets."

The growth has been driven by a rapid take up by operators adding Telegent-enabled TV handsets to their model line-up in order to address consumer demand for this feature principally in China but also in places such as Mexico, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, and Turkey.

As an example Telefónica Móviles Perú, has included the ZTE i766, a handset with a live TV feature enabled by Telegent, in its handset line-up. "The live TV feature differentiates our product offering and gives consumers what they want - access to their favourite programmes while they are on the move," commented Gustavo Kitazono, director of strategic planning of Telefónica Móviles Perú. "The video and audio quality of [the mobile TV] feature is excellent, and consumer interest in the TV feature has been quite high."

"We expect the adoption of live TV handsets in Latin America to be very strong in 2009," added Weijie Yun, president and CEO of Telegent Systems. "Telefónica is a leading operator whose innovation in bringing a TV feature that has proven popular with consumers [which enhances] their ability to attract and retain consumers in the highly competitive mobile market."

Going forward, Telegent has extended its technology to the PC TV market and to the digital standard DVB-T, claiming to have addressed the technical hurdles that until now have constrained mass uptake of live TV in PCs, laptops and netbooks.