Mobile TV Gaining Traction on Cell Phones
Mobile TV is being promoted as a big new revenue stream for mobile phone operators. Services are gaining popularity in Asia and Europe and U.S. operators are now offering services of their own. 500,000 people subscribe to a mobile TV service today, of the estimated 200 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S.
The typical mobile TV viewer is between the ages of 20 and 40 years old and two-thirds are male. Plans cost between $10-13 per month for basic TV service on top of a multimedia/data package of $20 per month, and some phones are offered by carriers for free. Video quality depends on the quality of the phone and the network that it is sent over. 3G cellular networks run video at 15 frames per second. Sprint and Cingular run video over their existing cell networks, which can run as slow as 3 to 4 frames per second.
Analysts caution that if too many people sign up for video services, wireless networks could be overwhelmed as ocurred in South Korea, which built a separate satellite network to broadcast its mobile TV service after the wireless network became congested within 8 to 9 months of launch.
