MediaFLO Launch Delayed Again: Is AT&T Waiting for Auction Results?

AT&T (T) Mobility subscribers continue to wait for the carrier to launch MediaFLO USA's broadcast TV service, and sources said the wait could be another two to eight weeks longer. AT&T's service will share the same MediaFLO broadcast network as Verizon's (VZ) VCAST TV. AT&T will also have eight of the channels featured on V CAST but will add two of its own. No word yet on what programming those two new channels might carry. The launch had originally been confirmed for earlier this month, but sources say "legal issues" and broadcast TV chipset problems pushed the launch date back yet again.

Several companies were preparing to launch the initial device and service offering in the second week of January at CES, but were told to hold off at the last minute. LG Electronics' Vu, or CU920, which is slated to be the first device to launch with MediaFLO on AT&T, was on display at CES, but the handset manufacturer was put in the awkward position of not being able to disclose details about its future.

Six weeks later, the brakes have been applied once again. When AT&T first announced the deal with MediaFLO last year, it said the service would launch by the end of 2007. As the year came to a close, the carrier pushed back its launch date to sometime this quarter, which would give it until the end of March to meet its second self-imposed deadline. It's largely assumed that the carrier would be hard pressed not to launch the service before or at CTIA Wireless 2008, which starts on April 1. Or possibly not.

Cynics here at JRPG think that AT&T is really waiting until the end of the 700Mhz auction to end so that it can discuss the situation with Qualcomm (QCOM) before coming public. It already knows if it won any of the Eblock mobile video 700MHz spectrum. The auction is expected to end shortly and most certainly before April 1st. Coincidence? We think not.

In less than a year, Qualcomm’s position has shifted from leader to competitor. With MediaFLO’s limited channel capacity and the increased likelihood that AT&T fades, DVB-H, DVB-SH, Sirius’ backseat, and broadcast based technologies all seem considerably more viable.

Disclosure: none

Comments

[your dad]

So typical of Allen and two techs. Delays on everything, but "we are still testing the capability of 2G" ..... LAME!

[Mike Dano]

I believe this post is based on an RCR Wireless News story without attribution:
www.rcrnews.com/apps/p...