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Broadband & Mobile Featured Article
March 05, 2007
Verizon Wireless Launches the First Commercial Mobile Television Service
By Rahul Prabhakar TMCnet Contributing Editor
Verizon (News - Alert) Wireless, the second-largest mobile phone provider in America, announced the launch of its’ first commercial mobile television service on March 2, 2007. A report by Reuters states that the service is available in 20 states across America and includes full-length programs with a picture quality that matches a regular television. The company will charge $15 (7.70 pounds) a month for the service. This service, developed by leading wireless chipmaker Qualcomm (News - Alert) Inc.’s unit, is called MediaFlo. It includes eight channels that broadcast full-length TV shows to phones 24 hours a day. It is a joint venture between Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group Plc.
Verizon Wireless is a name to reckon with among wireless voice and data network companies. With its headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., it is the first company in America to offer wireless consumer 3G
multimedia services and build a wide-area wireless broadband network.
The company has been fighting competition by pushing services such as video and music to help boost revenues, amidst declining prices for traditional mobile phone calls. In addition, high prices and poor picture quality have prevented the mobile video services from taking off smoothly.
To capture the market, companies like Qualcomm and Modeo (a unit of Crown Castle International (News - Alert) Corp.), are planning to build a nationwide network for delivering television to mobile phones. This way, established operators such as Verizon, will be able to offer additional media services to customers without worrying about their own networks.
The MediaFlo service is available in cities such as Chicago; New Orleans; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Las Vegas; Tucson, Arizona; Kansas City; Dallas-Forth Worth; and Salt Lake City. The available channels include live feed from MTV and programming from CBS Corp., NBC, ESPN, Fox, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central.
A spokesperson from Verizon Wireless, Jeffrey Nelson, was quoted in a Reuters report as saying that the picture quality of the new service matches with that of home television and it is roughly twice as clear as its existing Vcast video service. He added that some programs are aired exactly at the same time as they appear on regular television, while others are rescheduled to match the viewing times for heaviest mobile phone television.
According to Roger Entner, an analyst from Ovum, mobile video services have only managed to attract approximately 7 million customers out of about 232 million mobile subscriptions, since its first launch across America in 2004. He predicts that higher-quality pictures could soon reverse the trend.
Entner said in the Reuters report, “I think the impact in the beginning will be modest.” He further added that even though Verizon is introducing the service gradually, users of MediaFlo could increase from 20 to 30 million people within about seven years.
The launch of MediaFlo has already attracted the likes of Cingular (News - Alert) Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile service from AT&T Inc. in terms of subscribers. AT&T plans to introduce MediaFlo to its customers later this year.
The first phone to support MediaFlo was the U620 model from Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics Company Limited. The price of this model is $199. It also comes at a discounted price of $149.99 for customers who sign a two-year contract. Verizon is planning to add this service for an LG Electronics Inc. phone in the weeks to come.
Subscribers who sign up for mobile Internet access at $5 a month, and Verizon’s existing Vcast service at $15 a month, can add MediaFlo for $25 a month or $10 less than if they were to buy the three separately. Analyst Rogar Entner also predicts that adding eight channels for another $5 should be an attractive proposition for existing subscribers of Vcast and the Web.
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Rahul Prabhakar is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Verizon Wireless is a name to reckon with among wireless voice and data network companies. With its headquarters in Basking Ridge, N.J., it is the first company in America to offer wireless consumer 3G
multimedia services and build a wide-area wireless broadband network.The company has been fighting competition by pushing services such as video and music to help boost revenues, amidst declining prices for traditional mobile phone calls. In addition, high prices and poor picture quality have prevented the mobile video services from taking off smoothly.
To capture the market, companies like Qualcomm and Modeo (a unit of Crown Castle International (News - Alert) Corp.), are planning to build a nationwide network for delivering television to mobile phones. This way, established operators such as Verizon, will be able to offer additional media services to customers without worrying about their own networks.
The MediaFlo service is available in cities such as Chicago; New Orleans; Portland, Oregon; Seattle; Las Vegas; Tucson, Arizona; Kansas City; Dallas-Forth Worth; and Salt Lake City. The available channels include live feed from MTV and programming from CBS Corp., NBC, ESPN, Fox, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central.
A spokesperson from Verizon Wireless, Jeffrey Nelson, was quoted in a Reuters report as saying that the picture quality of the new service matches with that of home television and it is roughly twice as clear as its existing Vcast video service. He added that some programs are aired exactly at the same time as they appear on regular television, while others are rescheduled to match the viewing times for heaviest mobile phone television.
According to Roger Entner, an analyst from Ovum, mobile video services have only managed to attract approximately 7 million customers out of about 232 million mobile subscriptions, since its first launch across America in 2004. He predicts that higher-quality pictures could soon reverse the trend.
Entner said in the Reuters report, “I think the impact in the beginning will be modest.” He further added that even though Verizon is introducing the service gradually, users of MediaFlo could increase from 20 to 30 million people within about seven years.
The launch of MediaFlo has already attracted the likes of Cingular (News - Alert) Wireless, the biggest U.S. mobile service from AT&T Inc. in terms of subscribers. AT&T plans to introduce MediaFlo to its customers later this year.
The first phone to support MediaFlo was the U620 model from Samsung (News - Alert) Electronics Company Limited. The price of this model is $199. It also comes at a discounted price of $149.99 for customers who sign a two-year contract. Verizon is planning to add this service for an LG Electronics Inc. phone in the weeks to come.
Subscribers who sign up for mobile Internet access at $5 a month, and Verizon’s existing Vcast service at $15 a month, can add MediaFlo for $25 a month or $10 less than if they were to buy the three separately. Analyst Rogar Entner also predicts that adding eight channels for another $5 should be an attractive proposition for existing subscribers of Vcast and the Web.
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Rahul Prabhakar is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
