AI
Wednesday, September 28, 2005 10:43:15 PM
Sprint: Go with the FLO?
Tuesday, September 27 2005
@ 16:14:53 PDT
USA Today explains that three guys in Berkeley came up with a crazy notion back in 2003 -- MobiTV. It proved that (some) cellphones were powerful enough to display television images. It wasn't great TV, but it moved...at a frame or two a second.
In November 2003, Sprint became the first wireless carrier to offer MobiTV to consumers. The $10-a-month service, now also offered by Cingular, has attracted 500,000 subscribers. Verizon's competitive service, V-Cast, utilizes their faster EV-DO cellular data network to deliver video clips, games and music for $15/month.
But using a cellular channel to deliver multi-media doesn't really pencil out. There just aren't enough channels. Multicasting, like broadcasting, is the ticket. Millions can receive programing over one channel with multicasting.
Technologies like Qualcomm's MediaFLO and Crown Castle's DVB-H offload mobile video on a separate channel outside the cellular band. MediaFLO will use 700 Mhz while DVB-H will use 1.6 GHz to deliver mobile video across the United States in a year or so.
Today, Qualcomm announced the first live, over-the-air demonstration of FLO (Forward Link Only), delivered to a wireless handset.
FLO Technology, a multicast technology, is lots cheaper. Qualcomm says it requires only two or three broadcast towers per metropolitan area -- that's 30 to 50 times fewer towers than required by traditional cellular systems. Operators can provide live streaming video channels (QVGA resolution at up to 30 fps), to millions. Short "clipcasts", audio, and data channels are planned.
The demonstration took place during the CTIA I.T. & Entertainment 2005 show (exhibitor news). Over-the-air delivery and viewing of multiple channels of wireless multimedia content, both streaming video and multicast packet data to cellular handsets were demoed.
Qualcomm's FLO Technology is said to offer several advantages over other OFDM-based mobile multicast technologies, including higher-quality video and audio, faster channel switching time, superior mobile reception, optimized power consumption and greater capacity.
Qualcomm claims FLO features include:
* Support for at least 20 streaming channels of QVGA (240x320 pixels) quality video at 30 frames per second, 10 stereo audio channels (HE AAC+ parametric stereo) and more than 800 minutes of stored, short-format video clips called Clipcasting(TM)
* Low power consumption, 4 hours of viewing time on a standard 850 mAh battery, without unacceptable degradation to talk or standby time
* An average channel switching time of 1.5 seconds without buffering or progress bars
"Network coverage, cost of service and content options will all be critical factors in the success of mobile multimedia services," said Linda Barrabee, senior analyst at Yankee Group. "The winners in this space will ultimately be the services and technology providers that deliver all of these things while still offering high-quality audio and video viewing that is easy to use and compelling to the mobile user."
Battle for the Small Screen
Source: Business 2.0
QUALCOMM COMPANY NOKIA
MediaFlo TECHNOLOGY DVB-H
700-megahertz frequencies in major U.S. cities SPECTRUM Crown Castle's nationwide 1.6-gigahertz network
Qualcomm CHIPS Texas Instruments
Starting in some cities later this summer TRIALS Currently under way in Pittsburgh
Late 2006 ROLLOUT Early 2007
100 NUMBER OF CHANNELS 10 to 40
Om Malik says Sprint-Nextel may use Qualcomm’s MediaFLO.
Now there is word from Deutsche Bank analysts that Sprint-Nextel might become the first carrier to sign-up for the MediaFLO.
Our channel checks indicate that Qualcomm’s MediaFLO is the strongest technology contender on the list, and Sprint/Nextel in conjunction with Qualcomm could layout a FLO demo network as early as mid-January 2006. Our channel checks indicate that MediaFLO could be commercially available in mid- 2006, with volume shipments of FLO handsets as early as August - October of 2006.
Deutsche Bank analysts point out that DVB-H, the Nokia-sponsored rival is behind in terms of “chipset development and availability, revenue sharing plans, network planning etc) and is not as power efficient as FLO… we believe Qualcomm’s MediaFLO could emerge as the de-facto mobile-TV standard in the US.”
Surely the 700 Mhz band would be superior to 1.7 GHz. Both Qualcomm and Crown-Castle bought spectrum nation-wide for mobile multi-media services. Crown-Castle has 1.6 GHz for DVB-H, while Qualcomm has 700 Mhz (on UHF tv channel 55). But MediaFLO is not a standard -- it's a Qualcomm thing.
Charles Townsend's Aloha Partners is the Big Kahuna. He's chairman of the 700 club. He OWNS the 700 Mhz band. Will he combine Qualcomm's MediaFLO (1-way entertainment) with Qualcomm/Flarion (2-way broadband) -- both at 700 Mhz -- for cheap, ubiquitous coverage nation-wide?
Sprint and Samsung will trial Mobile WiMAX early next year at 2.5GHz. Sprint could contract out to Qualcomm for Media FLO entertainment (at 700Mhz) and Mobile WiMax for broadband wireless (at 2.5 GHz) in a year or two. A MediaFLO conjoined twin could make sense for both cellular and mobile WiMax users. WiBro Handsets are expected to work that way.
It's not pretty, but it could work.
* Sprint/Nextel might spectrum share with Aloha Partners for universal service at 700 Mhz -- if Townsend doesn't do a deal with ABC, CBS or the National Biscuit Company, first.
* Verizon and Sprint could catch the FLO train with Qualcomm while riding shotgun with Charlie on 700, cherry picking 2-way public service users via Flarion.
* What about DVB-H at 1.6 GHz? Leave it to Cingular...along with that expensive forklift upgrade to HSDPA. Look out for a train wreck on that bridge!
Tuesday, September 27 2005
@ 16:14:53 PDT
USA Today explains that three guys in Berkeley came up with a crazy notion back in 2003 -- MobiTV. It proved that (some) cellphones were powerful enough to display television images. It wasn't great TV, but it moved...at a frame or two a second.
In November 2003, Sprint became the first wireless carrier to offer MobiTV to consumers. The $10-a-month service, now also offered by Cingular, has attracted 500,000 subscribers. Verizon's competitive service, V-Cast, utilizes their faster EV-DO cellular data network to deliver video clips, games and music for $15/month.
But using a cellular channel to deliver multi-media doesn't really pencil out. There just aren't enough channels. Multicasting, like broadcasting, is the ticket. Millions can receive programing over one channel with multicasting.
Technologies like Qualcomm's MediaFLO and Crown Castle's DVB-H offload mobile video on a separate channel outside the cellular band. MediaFLO will use 700 Mhz while DVB-H will use 1.6 GHz to deliver mobile video across the United States in a year or so.
Today, Qualcomm announced the first live, over-the-air demonstration of FLO (Forward Link Only), delivered to a wireless handset.
FLO Technology, a multicast technology, is lots cheaper. Qualcomm says it requires only two or three broadcast towers per metropolitan area -- that's 30 to 50 times fewer towers than required by traditional cellular systems. Operators can provide live streaming video channels (QVGA resolution at up to 30 fps), to millions. Short "clipcasts", audio, and data channels are planned.
The demonstration took place during the CTIA I.T. & Entertainment 2005 show (exhibitor news). Over-the-air delivery and viewing of multiple channels of wireless multimedia content, both streaming video and multicast packet data to cellular handsets were demoed.
Qualcomm's FLO Technology is said to offer several advantages over other OFDM-based mobile multicast technologies, including higher-quality video and audio, faster channel switching time, superior mobile reception, optimized power consumption and greater capacity.
Qualcomm claims FLO features include:
* Support for at least 20 streaming channels of QVGA (240x320 pixels) quality video at 30 frames per second, 10 stereo audio channels (HE AAC+ parametric stereo) and more than 800 minutes of stored, short-format video clips called Clipcasting(TM)
* Low power consumption, 4 hours of viewing time on a standard 850 mAh battery, without unacceptable degradation to talk or standby time
* An average channel switching time of 1.5 seconds without buffering or progress bars
"Network coverage, cost of service and content options will all be critical factors in the success of mobile multimedia services," said Linda Barrabee, senior analyst at Yankee Group. "The winners in this space will ultimately be the services and technology providers that deliver all of these things while still offering high-quality audio and video viewing that is easy to use and compelling to the mobile user."
Battle for the Small Screen
Source: Business 2.0
QUALCOMM COMPANY NOKIA
MediaFlo TECHNOLOGY DVB-H
700-megahertz frequencies in major U.S. cities SPECTRUM Crown Castle's nationwide 1.6-gigahertz network
Qualcomm CHIPS Texas Instruments
Starting in some cities later this summer TRIALS Currently under way in Pittsburgh
Late 2006 ROLLOUT Early 2007
100 NUMBER OF CHANNELS 10 to 40
Om Malik says Sprint-Nextel may use Qualcomm’s MediaFLO.
Now there is word from Deutsche Bank analysts that Sprint-Nextel might become the first carrier to sign-up for the MediaFLO.
Our channel checks indicate that Qualcomm’s MediaFLO is the strongest technology contender on the list, and Sprint/Nextel in conjunction with Qualcomm could layout a FLO demo network as early as mid-January 2006. Our channel checks indicate that MediaFLO could be commercially available in mid- 2006, with volume shipments of FLO handsets as early as August - October of 2006.
Deutsche Bank analysts point out that DVB-H, the Nokia-sponsored rival is behind in terms of “chipset development and availability, revenue sharing plans, network planning etc) and is not as power efficient as FLO… we believe Qualcomm’s MediaFLO could emerge as the de-facto mobile-TV standard in the US.”
Surely the 700 Mhz band would be superior to 1.7 GHz. Both Qualcomm and Crown-Castle bought spectrum nation-wide for mobile multi-media services. Crown-Castle has 1.6 GHz for DVB-H, while Qualcomm has 700 Mhz (on UHF tv channel 55). But MediaFLO is not a standard -- it's a Qualcomm thing.
Charles Townsend's Aloha Partners is the Big Kahuna. He's chairman of the 700 club. He OWNS the 700 Mhz band. Will he combine Qualcomm's MediaFLO (1-way entertainment) with Qualcomm/Flarion (2-way broadband) -- both at 700 Mhz -- for cheap, ubiquitous coverage nation-wide?
Sprint and Samsung will trial Mobile WiMAX early next year at 2.5GHz. Sprint could contract out to Qualcomm for Media FLO entertainment (at 700Mhz) and Mobile WiMax for broadband wireless (at 2.5 GHz) in a year or two. A MediaFLO conjoined twin could make sense for both cellular and mobile WiMax users. WiBro Handsets are expected to work that way.
It's not pretty, but it could work.
* Sprint/Nextel might spectrum share with Aloha Partners for universal service at 700 Mhz -- if Townsend doesn't do a deal with ABC, CBS or the National Biscuit Company, first.
* Verizon and Sprint could catch the FLO train with Qualcomm while riding shotgun with Charlie on 700, cherry picking 2-way public service users via Flarion.
* What about DVB-H at 1.6 GHz? Leave it to Cingular...along with that expensive forklift upgrade to HSDPA. Look out for a train wreck on that bridge!
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