>Qualcomm plans network to bring TV to cell phones | CNET News.com: "Wireless-chip maker Qualcomm said Monday that it plans to build a national high-speed network to deliver video and audio programming to mobile phones at a cost of $800 million over about five years.
Qualcomm hopes to boost demand for its chips and for high-speed mobile phones by transmitting content such as live news or sports clips and selling it through existing U.S. mobile service providers.
The network will be built by Qualcomm's MediaFlo USA subsidiary. Paul Jacobs, president of Qualcomm's wireless Internet group, said the new network would enhance existing services by letting operators deliver video services without using up capacity needed for mobile phone calls.
Operators 'understand it's a very low risk strategy to complement their network,' Jacobs said in a telephone interview. Qualcomm is talking to several operators, handset makers and media companies, he said. It plans to launch the service in 2006.
Sprint, which already provides an early stage video service to its customers, had no immediate comment on the Qualcomm service. Verizon Wireless spokesman Jeff Nelson said Verizon would look at the service.
U.S. mobile providers are spending billions of dollars upgrading their own networks for the delivery of advanced services such as mobile Internet and video to help offset falling phone call prices. Such services have seen some success in Asia but remain in their infancy in the United States.
Deutsche Bank analyst Brian Modoff said Qualcomm's investment was a 'drop in the ocean' for the company, which had about $2 billion cash at the end of July, but that it still poses some risks.
'This is a conduit to try to drive demand. Mobile data is the next big thing in wireless, but its success is still unproven"
