Verizon Wireless Launches Mobile Phone TV

Verizon Wireless, the second largest U.S. mobile phone provider, announced on Thursday that they are launching a live broadcast TV service for cell phones in about 20 Midwestern and Western Markets. The service will be offered for $15 to $25 a month for the initial lineup of eight leading networks.

Verizon Wireless and Vodafone Group Plc said that the service will broadcast full-length TV shows to phones 24 hours a day.

Verizon Wireless and its mobile phone rivals have been pushing services such as video and music on their phones to help boost revenue as the price of mobile phones keep falling. Mobile video services have seen little interest however due to high prices and poor quality compared with home televisions.

The picture quality of the new service would be comparable to home TV and about twice as clear as Verizon Wireless' current Vcast video services according to company spokesman Jeff Nelson.

Mobile video services were first launched in the U.S. in 2004 and have only about seven million customers. According to Ovum analyst Roger Entner, the higher quality pictures of the new services could change that.

"I think the impact in the beginning will be modest since Verizon is rolling out the service gradually," said Entner.

The eight 24-hour channels are CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN, Fox Mobile, MTV, NBC 2Go, NBC News 2Go and Nickelodeon.

Most of the programming will be identical to that shown by the networks on regular tv, however, only some of the shows will be broadcast at the same time.

For example MTV will broadcast identically around the clock. CBS on the other hand will show some shows at different hours, while others will be simulcast. Comedy Central will also show some programs at different hours and some will be simulcast.

The largest markets included in the initial rollout of V Cast Mobile TV signal are Chicago, Dallas-Fort Worth, Denver, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New Orleans, St. Louis, Salt Lake City and Seattle.

The service is also available in Portland, Ore., Tuscon, Ariz., Omaha and Lincoln in Nebraska, the Albuquerque-Santa Fe region of New Mexico; Palm Springs, Calif., Colorado Springs, Colo., Jacksonville, Fla., Wichita, Kan., the Norfolk-Richmond region of Virginia, and Spokane, Wash.

The first dual-mode handset from Samsung Electronics Co. costs $200 without signing a new Verizon service contract, or $50 less with a new commitment. Verizon Wireless expects to introduce a second handset made by LG Electronics Co. in the coming weeks.

AT&T Inc.'s Cingular Wireless also plans to offer their MediaFlo TV service, although the launch isn't expected until late this year.

Sources:
http://www.theage.com.au/news/Technology/Verizon-Wireless-Launches-Live-Cell-TV/2007/03/02/1172338832909.html
http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/articlenews.aspx?type=technologyNews&storyid=262635%2001-Mar-2007%20RTRS;&WTmodLoc=Motor+Sports-R6-MostRead-3
http://www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/03/01/ap/hitech/d8njk56g0.txt