Mobile TV

Qualcomm hints strongly at Flo TV switch-off

US vendor Qualcomm has given the strongest indication yet that it is set to call time on its Flo TV mobile TV service. The firm has announced that it is to suspend direct to consumer sales of service and devices immediately, and has committed to maintaining service for existing D2C customers only until spring 2011. The firm said that it would offer refunds to users “in the event of a discontinuance of service”, suggesting that this is the probable outcome, and conceded that it was expecting to have to make “some layoffs”.

Comcel launches 3G mobile TV in Columbia

Colombian operator Comcel has launched a 3G-based, streaming, on demand mobile TV subscription service dubbed Ideas Web TV. Powered by technology provided by ROK, Ideas Web TV will offer an initial package of channels including Discovery Movil, Discovery Kids, Nickelodeon, Playboy Lifestyle, ESPN, ESPN-X, Wappo TV, Disney Channel and National Geographic for a monthly cost of MXN15,000 ($8).

MediaFLO dependent on overseas success says FLO TV president

International success is essential to the progress of Qualcomm’s MediaFLO mobile TV unit, said Bill Stone, president of FLO TV, the US service based on the technology. Qualcomm has a number of trials underway outside of the US, including one with UK satellite broadcaster BSkyB and a partnership with Japanese operator KDDI.

European carriers explore mobile TV in TDD

The wireless operator community is taking another crack at mobile TV, with a technology that also holds promise for the little used TDD spectrum, which most operators have left gathering spectral dust.

Swisscom kills DVB-H service

One of Europe’s mobile TV pioneers has binned its DVB-H service, striking a blow for Europe’s mobile TV standard.

Norway offers DMB mobile TV for free

Norway’s three biggest broadcasters announced the successful launch of six free to air TV channels via DMB (Digital Multimedia Broadcasting) on Monday.

Advertising to help kick start mobile TV market

Mobile TV services are forecast to generate $1.5bn in revenues in 2008, rising to over $10bn in 2013, when nearly half the revenues will come from advertising. The figures were released Wednesday by industry analyst and telecoms.com parent Informa Telecoms & Media, which said that while the bulk of mobile TV revenues presently come from […]

Free TV key to mobile uptake

Free to air mobile TV remains key to the nascent platform’s success, according to analyst research released this week. While more than 330 million mobile users worldwide are forecast to own broadcast TV-enabled handsets by 2013, less than 14 per cent will opt for mobile pay TV services, research house Juniper said Tuesday. The researcher […]

Mobile television: the reality of rollout

For some exhibitors at this show, the business model for mobile TV is a lot simpler than for others. Take antenna systems specialist RFS, which, as Dave Thickett, RFS senior systems engineer, told the Show Daily, has experience in DVB-T, the terrestrial cousin of mobile broadcasting contender DVB-H. In the UK, he said, a digital […]