US wireless technology titan Qualcomm is rolling a new-age version of old-time broadcast television onto what analysts say is an unpredictable but inevitable mobile TV landscape.

US wireless technology titan Qualcomm is rolling a new-age version of old-time broadcast television onto what analysts say is an unpredictable but inevitable mobile TV landscape.

The California firm's MediaFLO subsidiary has spent an undisclosed fortune and about three years building a digital broadcasting network and partnerships with television studios, mobile phone service carriers, and handset makers.

Even though a government-mandated shift from analogue to digital television signals won't take place until February, MediaFLO already broadcasts mobile television in more than 50 US metropolitan areas.

"A lot of gray hair and wrinkles have been put together building this system," MediaFLO senior direct Cullen Childress said Wednesday during an interview at the broadcast operations center in San Diego.

"We want TV in mobile telephones to be as common as cameras in telephones."

Qualcomm bought a television channel frequency several years ago and added a portion of the 700 MHz spectrum during an historic auction in April by the US Federal Communications Commission.

MediaFLO began television broadcasts to Verizon mobile telephones slightly more than a year ago and recently made a deal with AT&T to do the same for the US telecom giant's subscribers.

Unlike television programs sent to mobile telephones via individualized Internet connections, MediaFLO broadcasts can be picked up a fashion similar to the way rabbit-ear TV antennas receive analogue signals.

Qualcomm's MediaFLO subsidiary has spent an undisclosed fortune and about three years building a digital broadcasting network and partnerships with television studios, mobile phone service carriers, and handset makers.

"It's a portable version of your home TV," said MediaFLO product management vice president Mike Coad.

MediaFLO currently provides ten television channels for mobile viewing and subscription to the service costs 15 dollars (US) monthly.

"MediaFLO is going to face some challenges," said In-Stat principal analyst David Chamberlain. "People really want mobile video, unless they have to pay for it on a subscription basis."

While MediaFLO offers all-you-can eat programming, people seem happy with a "snack" model that lets them download select shows online and watch them when they choose, said Telecom Media and Finance Associates president Tim Farrar.

"The question is really to what degree people have a desire to consume a lot of mobile TV," Farrar told AFP.

"It is hard to see people wanting to pay on a subscription basis as opposed to downloading something from iTunes to watch while waiting at an airport."

Handheld devices built exclusively for broadcast television viewing make more sense for ad-supported programs because telecom carriers are eliminated from the equation, Chamberlain said.

Advertising-based mobile television is feasible, as long as a large portion of telecom customers watch shows, analysts say.

"Right now, there is no evidence of that kind of demand" Farrar said.

Mobile television services in Japan and South Korea, where deployment of the technology is far ahead of the United States, report paltry adoption rates.

Qualcomm makes computer chips crafted to receive television broadcasts in multiple signal formats and is hustling to make them standard components in mobile telephones.

MediaFLO believes that if television-capable mobile phones are ubiquitous, users will yield to the temptation and then it will be a matter of figuring out what pricing models are best for business.

"Cast a wide net and you will be able to sell them on premium packages," Coad said.

MediaFLO is dabbling with allowing broadcasts to be routed to home televisions, computers, and systems built into vehicles.

The National Association of Broadcasters is testing using US television station networks to send digital programming to mobile devices in a move that threatens to challenge MediaFLO.

Major electronics makers LG and Samsung recently announced they are backing the association's format.

"I think we are in for an interesting battle down the road," Jupiter Research analyst Neil Strother told AFP.

"I think Qualcomm is in a pretty good position. It is not trivial to broadcast television to a wide audience."

Even if faster wireless Internet services promised in the US increase the popularity of mobile video from websites such as YouTube and Hulu the broadcast television model is expected to endure.

"I think it's pretty compelling in certain scenarios," Strother said. "Whenever you have time to kill and want to watch a little TV it is convenient. But, how much is it worth?"

© 2008 AFP