Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[khemara_qc]

Digital TV on a Cell: Boom or Bust?
By Suzanne Deffree -- Electronic News, 11/5/2004

http://www.reed-electronics.com/electronicnews/article/CA477627

Texas Instruments Inc. presented its Hollywood digital TV chip late last month with fanfare reminiscent of a movie premiere. Reporters' expectations were raised by excited calls from TI representatives, looking to book an interview days in advance, and flashy reminders of the announcement sent as gifts. Executives and analysts poured into a well-publicized Webinar, chiming in for their scoop of the action. And members of the media were entertained with one-on-one interviews post Webinar.

A few weeks later, Qualcomm looked to steal the spotlight, announcing its own nationwide “mediacast” network subsidiary aimed at digital TV for cell phones. Dubbed MediaFLO USA Inc., the company plans to offer media content for U.S. CDMA2000 and WCDMA (UMTS) cellular operators, giving TV stations and networks, cable TV and satellite operators and networks, and other content providers a major new distribution channel.

But with an expected DTV cell phone rollout date sometime around 2007, it's hard to say whether the fanfare will be worthwhile and whether MediaFLO and chips like Hollywood will become stars in the mobile device space.

"Obviously, a development like putting digital TV technology into a single chip is very beneficial for the mobile TV idea," David Linsalata, an IDC associate research analyst, specializing in mobile devices and digital TV, said of the TI announcement. "Texas Instruments had a lot of expertise in the mobile device space and a lot of expertise with semiconductors. They are able to produce this package, if they can get pasted all the possible barriers."

DTV has its obstacles in the mobile space, including interference from other functions on the phone like Wi-Fi and GPS; screen size and resolution; battery life; standards still being in flux; and speed requirements, Linsalata said. But the pay off could be big for chipmakers, service providers and operators, alike. TI's Kush Parikh, for one, expects that by 2008, more than 100 million mobile phones will be enabled with DTV.

"The operator is always trying to figure out ways to increase ARPU [average revenue per user]. There are streaming services that exist today that aren't that scalable or economically feasible long term," the worldwide strategic marketing manger for the mobile connectivity solutions division of TI's wireless terminal business unit said. "That's why something like this broadcast television will increase the usage of people using their handsets. The more people are using their handsets, the more likely they are to make a phone call, pause a video clip and send and message. Clearly, the operators see it as a revenue generator technology."

While Parikh admits that the business models are far from being worked out, Qualcomm has the same idea based on partnering and running off of the 700MHz spectrum, for which it holds licenses.

“Qualcomm’s MediaFLO solution brings the cable and digital TV realms into the mobile value chain,” said Jane Zweig, CEO of The Shosteck Group, an international telecommunications consultancy. “New partnerships and new revenue streams will be enabled as the content and mobile worlds become more tightly bound together. These opportunities exist for both vendors and operators alike.”

Indeed, Qualcomm is so committed to the MediaFLO mediacasting network -- which will support 50 to100 national and local content channels, including up to 15 live streaming channels and numerous clip-cast and audio channels at up to 30 frames per second - it has said it plans to see $800 million in investments over the next 4 to 5 years go into the subsidiary.

Meanwhile, TI will put its digital RF processor technology to use for Hollywood, collapsing the traditional three-chip solution, which includes a tuner, OFDM demodulator and channel decoder processor, into the a single chip for digital TV phones. Hollywood will receive live digital TV broadcasts at 24 to 30 frames per second, and will be support Digital Video Broadcasting - Handheld (DVB-H), which was developed for Europe and is expected to extend to North America, and the Japanese specification, Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting - Terrestrial (ISDB-T).

Qualcomm expects to begin commercial operation of the new network in 2006, which is also when TI expects to begin sampling Hollywood.