China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television said it has set a home-grown technical standard for broadcasting multimedia content such as television programs to mobile devices, in a move to boost the provision of mobile-TV services, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The agency's move comes as China tries to kick start the development of its own technologies, including the third-generation, or 3G, mobile-phone technology called Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access, in a bid to stem patent payments to foreign companies, said the paper.

Competition for mobile-TV viewers, who can choose to watch TV using 3G mobile phones or the broadcast standard, could arise later, said Dave Carini, a Beijing-based analyst at Maverick China Research, a telecom, media and technology market-research firm.

"You have the same capabilities over the same device. That's where the fight will take place," he said.

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