What laws and licences are involved with TV Phones?
The UK television licence is for a property, so if you have a licence at your property for your main TV then you already covered (for any number of devices, of any kind, at that address). If you do not have a licence for your property, then you will require a licence if you use your phone to receive live (or nearly live) television transmissions. However, you do not require a licence simply to own the phone – if you do not watch television on your phone, you can own it without requiring a licence (even if the phone is capable of receiving a television signal). The same situation applies to any device capable of receiving a television signal (i.e., computers, DVD records, or television sets). The UK licence is a licence to own, not a licence to watch, so simply owning a television (say) does not require a licence.
