AT&T to offer live mobile TV in May

AT&T said Thursday that it will start offering live mobile TV service from MediaFlo in May, but will anyone be watching?

AT&T first announced its partnership with MediaFlo in February 2007. Back then it said it expected the service to begin by the end of 2007. AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told Reuters the company waited until May to offer the service because it was "a brand new service on a brand new network, and two brand new devices."

The new service will operate on two new handsets, the LG Vu and the Samsung Access. Subscribers will get access to eight channels of live TV plus two exclusive channels. AT&T said it would make pricing information available in May when the service officially launches.

MediaFlo USA is a subsidiary of wireless chipmaker Qualcomm. Using analog broadcast TV wireless spectrum it bought several years ago, MediaFlo has built a wireless network to deliver broadcast TV service to mobile devices.

Verizon Wireless, which was the first wireless provider to work with MediaFlo, has been offering the service for more than a year. Verizon hasn't published specific subscriber numbers, but Qualcomm's CEO Paul Jacobs said during a speech at the Tech Policy Summit in Hollywood on Wednesday that the uptake has been going slower than the company would like, according to RCR Wireless News.

Jacobs blames the carriers for not advertising the service enough. He said that carriers might be waiting for MediaFlo to increase its coverage, which he said will happen in February 2009 when TV broadcasters will transition to digital TV, the article said.

Qualcomm, which owns spectrum for the analog TV Channel 55, has had to negotiate with broadcasters in each market to be able to use the spectrum that some of them have used to broadcast TV. The network is currently operating in about 55 markets and is available to about 130 million people, said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFlo USA. Markets where MediaFlo has launched include Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando, and Philadelphia.

But some mobile experts question whether people really want to watch TV on their phones. Verizon is charging $15 a month extra for eight channels of live TV. Perhaps the price point is still too expensive for consumers who on average spend about $40 to $50 a month on cell phone service. And as the economy dips further into a recession, I question how willing people will be to spend extra money on what I'd consider an unnecessary service like mobile TV.

It will be interesting to see AT&T's customers' response to the live TV service. AT&T already offers an on-demand video service to customers who buy certain 3G data packages.

If consumers don't fall in love with live mobile TV it could spell trouble for Qualcomm's MediaFlo USA, which has spent millions of dollars acquiring spectrum and building the network. Right now the company wholesales the service to mobile operators. But Verizon and AT&T are currently its only customers.

Lombardi said the company is in talks with other wireless operators in the U.S. But the company is also considering offering its service on any device with a small screen.

"We've had a lot of interest from car manufacturers," she said. "We've even had refrigerator manufacturers ask if we could provide TV service to the tiny screens they put on refrigerators."

Lombardi said the service could be sold much like satellite radio, which allows people to subscribe to a monthly service for about $10 per month. If subscribers want satellite radio service on additional devices, they get a slight discount on the monthly subscription for the second and third device.

"We are looking into all of these options," she said. "If there's interest, we don't want to turn away from any opportunity knocking at our door."

[z3cnc64x4]

Mobile TV is inevitable

Adoption rates are always unpredictable, just as the early days of the Internet. I've seen MediaFLO and the quality is so stunning, you forget you're looking at a small screen. Eventually, broadcast TV will be on most phones just like cameras on them are now becoming ubiquitous.

[michaelyagoda]

live mobil tv for at&t

what is wrong with the already-available mobi-tv?? for ten dollars a month on my nokia e62, i don't think i could do any better.

[CoderForChrist]

MobiTV

Agreed; MobiTV is pretty cool. Back when I first got my cell phone (and had plenty of disposable income), I signed up for MobiTV and would watch it whenever I could, just because!

On the downside, I'm not much of a TV watcher in general, and right now it doesn't really make sense to pay $10/month to watch TV on my cell phone when I'm not willing to pay for a cable or satellite subscription on my TV.

[Movieman1942]

what about iPhone?

Will it be avalable on the iPhone too? i have tv on Alltel, about 20 some channels.

[imacpwr]

Mobile TV is a "flop" in Switzerland..!

To put it plainly, [b]nobody[/b] wants to walk around clutching a
cell phone while trying to watch TV on a 2 inch screen..!! The
service has been available here in Switzerland for quite some time
now but I have [b]never[/b] seen anyone actually watching it..!!

[videography]

ATT should widely deploy

At Videography Lab we would love to view Comedy Central shows on our laptop using Sierra Wireless Aircard and our Junxion Box.

By all appearances ATT will not be widely deploying the new service on it's 3G network. We fear another debacle like the original iPhone which did not feature 3G.

Why limit the live mobile service to just a few devices?

[aldobender]

who really wants this?

As recently as last year, a survey of 1,004 users by In-Stat found that while many people were interested in viewing mobile video, 80% of the respondents said they wouldn't pay $15 a month for it and that's not the total downside at all. In my opinion, there is another major problem with all of this: there's almost no evidence that anyone wants mobile TV. In fact, some new studies I have come across lately suggests just the opposite. People "on the go" just aren't that interested in watching live TV, full stop, period, end of story. In fact, among the small percentage of cell-phone subscribers who do watch video on their phones, the vast majority opt for the occasional $2 download over monthly subscriptions, according to IDC (International Data Corp).

[alladiavinash]

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