The European Commission pushed for a single European standard for mobile TV on Wednesday, a move aimed to ensure Europe's share of the potentially lucrative marketover the globe.

The European Union's executive arm said in a statement that it will encourage the use of DVB-H, or Digital Video Broadcasting forHandhelds, as the common European standard for mobile TV.

In the coming weeks, the DVB-H will be included in the EU's official list of standards, which paves the way for it to be legally promoted in all 27 member states.

And the Commission "will look closely at market developments over the next months and come with proposals in 2008 including, ifnecessary and appropriate, mandating the use of DVB-H," the statement said.

By adopting a single standard across Europe, the EU actually wants to make it global, helping European companies to take a leadin the emerging market of mobile TV services, which was forecast to be 20 billion euros worldwide by 2011.

"Mobile broadcasting is a tremendous opportunity for Europe to maintain and expand its leadership in mobile technology and audiovisual services," said Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for the Information Society and Media, "Europe is today at a crossroads. We can either take the lead globally or allow other regions take the lion's share of the promising mobile TV market."

The DVB-H technology, which allows videos to be played on mobile phones and other handheld devices, is currently used by companies such as Nokia, Philips and Sony Ericsson, but not by several others including Samsung and Panasonic.

There are currently around seven standards for mobile TV. Analysts said the EU's adoption of DVB-H is a blow to its main competitors, such as DMB, which is widely used in South Korea, andthe MediaFLO standard, which was developed by U.S. technology company Qualcomm.

In order to take the future market into its hands, the Commission urged member states and industry to facilitate and accelerate the deployment of mobile TV across Europe.

The EU now lags behind some rivals in terms of the introductionand take-up of mobile TV. According to the Commission, the mobile TV penetration rate of South Korea, Asia's most developed mobile TV market, is close to 10 percent. Yet penetration in Italy, the EU's most advanced market, is still less than one percent.

"Unless Europe takes concrete action immediately, it risks losing its competitive edge," the Commission said.

The Commission said the universal success of the GSM (global system for mobile communication) standard, which had been stronglysupported by the EU at the end of the 1980s, proved the benefit ofa common standard.

The EU executive then made GSM mandatory as a cell phone standard, which is now used by 82 percent of all mobile users around the world.