Shanghai.  May 5. INTERFAX-CHINA - China's State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) will kick off commercial trials of mobile TV services using the CMMB (China Mobile Multimedia Broadcasting) standard in Beijing and Shenzhen this weekend, and in Shanghai at the end of this month, an official from CMMB receiver chip maker Innofidei said today.

    "CMMB-enabled USB dongles will be available in electronics stores in Beijing and Shenzhen this weekend. Users can use them with their laptop computers to receive free mobile TV programs," Che Lingfang, Innofidei's public relations manager, told Interfax.

    CMMB signals will be broadcast from Shanghai's Oriental Pearl TV Tower at the end of this month, when the sale of CMMB-enabled USB dongles will begin in the city, Che said.

    Users will be able to receive seven free mobile TV channels: CCTV-1, CCTV-3, CCTV's Olympic channel, CCTV's news channel, CCTV's children's channel, the English-language CCTV-9 and a local channel.

    "The USB dongles are produced by Innofidei's partner. Initially several thousand USB dongles will be released onto the market," Che said.

  In addition, CMMB-enabled MP4 players will be launched at the end of this month and CMMB-enabled mobile phones will be launched at the end of June, she said.

    CMMB is a technology developed by the Academy of Broadcasting Science under SARFT. It has been selected by SARFT as the main platform for delivering TV services to mobile devices.

    SARFT has now completed basic terrestrial CMMB coverage in eight cities, namely Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, Shenyang, Qingdao, Qinhuangdao, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and is now working to improve indoor signal coverage.

    SARFT plans to complete the deployment of CMMB networks in 37 cities before August and provide CMMB services during the Beijing Olympic Games.