MHP is built from the same components
as the Internet. Making an MHP device that also provides
Internet access should be feasible. Web sites can be launched
from MHP services and MHP from the web. However, MHP is
designed to provide Internet-like TV broadcast services,
in much the same way WAP was designed to provide web-like
services on a mobile telephone. The result is a closed
business model very different from the Internet. WAP developers
envisaged that WAP content providers would provide a rich
range of services for which consumer would be prepared
to pay. However, WAP could not compete with the Internet's
open and free ethos.
An MHP device could be produced from a
personal computer with a digital broadcast card and software
added. Such a device could support MHP and have good Internet
compatibility. However, expanding existing DVB set-top
boxes to handle MHP will prove a challenge, even without
allowing for Internet access as well. Entry level set-top
boxes do not contain a hard disk and so can have only
limited software. Digital video recorders, such as the
TiVo, may provide the early platform for MHP.
