Qualcomm pitches MediaFLO mobile TV technology in Europe

摘要

A mobile-TV-technology war in Europe moved a step closer to reality last month with the announcement that Qualcomm expects to begin European commercial trials of its MediaFLO system in 2006. In the U.S., the San Diego-based company is already preparing a commercial MediaFLO network for rollout by end-2006. Qualcomm will operate the network and act as a content aggregator on behalf of its operator partners and has purchased national spectrum at 700MHz, incorporating the Channel 55 broadcast band. Existing broadcasters may be moved to accommodate the service. The prospect of a similar approach being adopted by the company in Europe has supporters of the alternative DVB-H technology, which is undergoing trials with a number of European operators, on the defensive. They have already dismissed MediaFLO as being proprietary and commercially unproven.