December 22, 2004
Telephone Business Gears Up to Deliver TV
If everything goes as planned, the telephone industry will be all about television in 2005. TV over your home phone line. TV on your cell phone. Few topics have been as popular this past year among phone companies and their technology partners, according to the Associated Press.
[...] "Cell phone TV faces multiple barriers.
Although mobile service providers are rolling out next-generation technologies that are speedy enough to deliver a TV signal, there are limits to how much network capacity they can divert away from phone calls and wireless Internet access. And just as they interfere with calls, gaps in network coverage may disrupt a TV feed.
Nevertheless, the buzz on cell TV has been coming in loud and clear on multiple fronts, with many proponents pointing to strong demand for mobile video services in South Korea. Usage became so heavy on one Korean carrier's network that it withdrew an all-you-can-eat pricing plan and switched to a pay-as-you-go approach".
[...] Among content providers, Fox recently announced plans to produce one-minute episodes of its "24" television series for Vodafone Group PLC, the world's biggest cell phone company. Disney plans to launch an ESPN-brand cell phone company in 2005 featuring a wide range of sports content including streaming audio and video.
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