Verizon Wireless to Use Qualcomm’s MediaFLO for Mobile TV

By ROBERT LIU
TMCnet Wireless and Technology Columnist

Qualcomm has finally found interest for its MediaFLO multimedia content delivery system from a major wireless carrier. On Thursday, the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) innovator announced that Verizon Wireless is working with its MediaFLO subsidiary to bring live TV to its cellular customers using MediaFLO’s multicasting network, which operates in the 700 MHz spectrum.

The deal is a natural extension for Verizon Wireless, which along with Sprint are Qualcomm’s two most important North American customers. Both carriers have built up networks using Qualcomm’s CDMA2000 1xEV-DO-based broadband technology, which Verizon currently uses to deliver video content, via VCast.

The significance of MediaFLO, though, is that it delivers on the promise of real-time video content, offering the closest thing to broadcast service in the cellular field. Qualcomm has already invested as much as $800 million into the MediaFLO technology and eventually plans to spin off the subsidiary into a separate entity. And it has already attracted a lot of attention.

“Just when one thought that the battle between Qualcomm and the rest of the world was over, a new and potentially prolonged front is being born. The new battlefield is the lucrative market that could have a disruptive impact on wireless communications and the way consumers receive information,” Deutsche Bank analysts said recently in an extensive report on next-generation networks and convergence.

Verizon’s MediaFLO offering is expected to hit the market around the same time as Sprint’s Power Vision service. Last month, Sprint officials signed a long-awaited agreement with four cable giants to offer converged services including mobile TV. However, while Sprint network is based on Qualcomm’s EV-DO technology, its real-time video content delivery doesn’t use MediaFLO.

Qualcomm has stated previously MediaFLO expects to begin commercial operation of the new network in 2006. As a result of the Verizon Wireless agreement, both companies expect to launch mobile TV services over the MediaFLO network in approximately half of the markets already covered by Verizon’s network. Verizon Wireless will be the first wireless service provider to offer MediaFLO when the network is commercially available.

Following the initial launch, Qualcomm will continue to expand the MediaFLO network throughout other markets that cover the Verizon Wireless' V CAST and BroadbandAccess service areas. Verizon Wireless plans to offer mobile TV service to its subscribers through MediaFLO-enabled EV-DO handsets and use the MediaFLO network to deliver mobile TV services when the network begins commercial operation.

“MediaFLO USA's network will allow us to provide compelling real-time multimedia services to wireless customers, complementing our industry-leading wireless voice and data services -- including our successful V CAST broadband multimedia service,” said John Stratton, vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Wireless.

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Robert Liu is Executive Editor at TMCnet. Previously, he was Executive Editor at Jupitermedia and has also written for CNN, A&E, Dow Jones and Bloomberg. For more articles, please visit Robert Liu's columnist page.

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