MUMBAI : Orange and BBC World have extended their current mobile distribution offering by signing a global deal which will allow Orange mobile phone customers in eight new countries to watch the channel live.

BBC World, the BBC‘s 24-hour international news information service will be the only English language news channel to be streamed live to mobiles in Belgium, Poland, the Netherlands, Romania, Portugal, Jordan, Egypt and the Dominican Republic, asserts an official release.

Orange mobile customers in France have been able to watch BBC World for the past two years. Orange France recently signed a renewal deal to continue this relationship and also offer the channel to IPTV customers.

BBC World‘s regional director and business development Europe, Middle East, South Asia, and America Gerry Ritchie said, "Orange is one of the most forward thinking new mobile distribution platforms for television so we are thrilled to extend our relationship with them. This new live streaming deal makes our channel even more accessible to mobile users who like to keep in touch with breaking global news while on the move."

France Telecom executive VP content division Patricia Langrand added "Orange was first in several countries to offer mobile TV to our customers. This agreement allows us to extend and enhance our mobile TV offer ensuring Orange customers have access to a variety of channels at any time. We are now delighted to increase the scope of our partnership with BBC World to include multiple territories."

The Conference agreed that the transition period from analogue to digital broadcasting, which begins at 0001 UTC 17 June 2006, should end on 17 June 2015, but some countries preferred an additional five-year extension for the VHF band (174-230 MHz).