Verizon to Compete With i-Tunes?

TMCnet Associate Editor

Verizon Wireless is reportedly gearing up to compete with i-Tunes and the i-Pod by offering a music download service that will let subscribers purchase music wirelessly over their mobile phones and transfer songs between their phones and Windows PCs.

According to published reports, the new music download service, call V-Cast Music, will be an addition to Verizon’s V-Cast Service, “the first wireless broadband consumer multimedia service in the country.” Verizon has partnered with Microsoft in the development of V-Cast and will be using Microsoft technology to roll out V-Cast Music.

V-Cast Music will be available starting in January and will allow customers to browse, preview, download and play songs from artists on major music labels, including Warner Music Group, EMI Music, Universal Music Group and Sony BMG. Other wireless service providers – including Sprint Nextel and Motorola – have already launched similar services, but Verizon claims what makes its service unique is the fact the customers can use their PCs to transfer songs between PCs and wireless phones.

Verizon Wireless customers who have purchased LG VX9800, LG VX8100, Motorola E815, Samsung a950, Samsung a970 and UTStarcom CDM-8940 mobile phones can already download music videos and ringtones through its V-Cast Service .These phones come equipped with MP3 players and removable memory, allowing customers to download music videos from a PC and take them with them wherever they go. V-Cast Music will augment these capabilities by offering thousands of songs through the V-Cast Music Store.

Verizon’s V-Cast Showcase Channel allows customers to download and view crystal clear music videos from favorite artists – and its V Cast Encore Channel rocked customers this summer with concert performance videos from this summer’s busy concert schedule. Within days of various concerts, top artists in rock, pop, alternative, country, world and hip-hop offered concert video of a few of their songs for a limited time. V-Cast customers watched 311, Avril Lavigne and 3 Doors Down, among other summer concert performances.

Verizon Wireless customers can also play music for their friends with ringback tones - callers hear tunes from artists like Shakira, Black Eyed Peas and INXS. The wireless carrier currently offers more than 2,000 ringback tones on its website.

The V-Cast service is $15 monthly, in addition to the cost of the Verizon Wireless calling plan. The service offers unlimited basic video clips, but download fees apply for 3D games, premium video, ring tones and ringback tones. There are no airtime charges to download, stream or watch V-Cast content. Music videos are available through the Showcase Channel for $3.99 per video.

The company has not yet set a price-per-song for its V-Cast Music service. Until the company makes its official announcement about the new service next month, song capacity for the aforementioned phones is also unknown.

For more information about Verizon visit www.verizon.com.

Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.