Live mobile TV is set to become a reality as BT today announced that Virgin Mobile will be the first mobile operator to sign up to the BT Movio broadcast digital TV and radio service for mobile phones. Virgin Mobile will become the first mobile operator in Europe to offer its customers digital TV and radio content on a mobile device using broadcast technology.

Virgin Mobile will offer the broadcast service on a limited exclusive basis to its customers later this year giving its customers access to a wide range of digital TV content and more than 350 DAB digital radio stations nationwide broadcasting twenty-four hours a day.

Graeme Hutchinson, sales and marketing director of Virgin Mobile, said: "Virgin Mobile customers will be the first people in Europe to watch real broadcast TV over their mobile phones. 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 - crystal clear sound."

The mobile TV Smartphone has been developed jointly by BT, TTP, and HTC, one of the world's biggest original design manufacturers for mobile devices. This Smartphone is the world's first mobile device based on IP delivered over a broadcast network. The lightweight, Trilogy device features a 2.2" screen - ideal for consuming video content - and a range of other media driven features including removable storage and an integrated 1.3 mega pixel camera. Designed primarily around user feedback from the BT Movio pilot in the UK - the largest of its kind in Europe - the Trilogy is expected to have broad appeal among mobile users.