The QCOM take on cell video...
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Qualcomm looking to video
It says a U.S. network for cell phones planned
By Kathryn Balint
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
November 2, 2004
Qualcomm said yesterday it plans to build a nationwide network for delivering video and audio on cell phones.
Qualcomm, a San Diego developer of wireless technology and maker of computer chips for cell phones, said the network will cost $800 million over the next four to five years. A new subsidiary directing the project, called MediaFLO USA, might also receive funding from unidentified "third parties," Qualcomm said.
MediaFLO will deliver news, sports or entertainment programs over its new high-speed cell phone network to U.S. wireless companies that pay for the service beginning in 2006.
Qualcomm, the world's second-largest maker of semiconductors for cell phones, sees the venture as a way to increase demand for its chips.
Many cell phones already have cameras, music players and handheld computers built into them. High-quality wireless video would give consumers a new reason to upgrade their phones.
Edward Snyder, an analyst for Charter Equity Research, said Qualcomm is "seeding the clouds for greater demand for its chips later."
"It's a smart move," he said.
Cell phone companies would make money by selling the service to their customers.
"Qualcomm really is trying to meet head-on the challenge of delivering video to mobile devices in a way that makes it affordable to consumers and profitable to the service providers," said Rob Chandhok, vice president of engineering for Qualcomm.
So far, video on cell phones has been low-resolution with not much choice.
Qualcomm's technology is capable of sending video whose resolution is four times higher than that of typical cell phone video in the United States.
"If you're watching sports, it's the difference between being able to read the scoreboard and not read the scoreboard," Chandhok said.
The new MediaFLO network will be capable of carrying up to 100 channels, with as many as 15 of them streaming live video.
Qualcomm plans to use radio spectrum it purchased more than a year ago as the basis for its network. Transmitters on existing towers will send the video and audio data to cell phones.
The system will require only a fraction of the transmitters required by a typical cell phone network, Chandhok said. To cover San Diego County, for instance, three high-powered transmitters instead of hundreds would be required, he said.
Qualcomm said it plans to eventually spin off the MediaFLO subsidiary.
Snyder, the analyst, said Qualcomm can easily afford the $800 million cost of the network, even if no one else contributes financially. He said it would have been hard to persuade cash-strapped cell phone companies to pay for such a network on their own.
"Instead of going to carriers and asking them to build the network, Qualcomm is saying, 'We'll do it ourselves,' " Snyder said. "It's a win for everybody."
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Kathryn Balint: (619) 293-2848; kathryn.balint@uniontrib.com |
