• by Ross Fadner , November 14, 2003

The mobile media marketplace took a surprising turn Thursday when wireless giant Sprint PCS launched MobiTV, a new wireless service that streams television programming from major networks directly to subscribers' cell phones.

For an extra $9.95 per month, plus Sprint's standard $15 per month Internet access fee, subscribers will be able to receive real-time programs from ABC, CNBC, MSNBC, Discovery Channel and The Learning Channel.

Initially, the service will not pitch advertising. And that's probably a good thing for many marketers, given the initial quality of the TV signal. With a transmission rate or only one or two frames per second, the reception is decidedly choppy compared to conventional TV transmission rates of 20 frames per second. The audio, however, will play in a continuous stream.

The programs transmitted to MobiTV will be identical to the actual programs playing on the corresponding cable channels, with lag times of one to two minutes.

So far, such multimedia services as Web browsing and playing music and video have been held up by the limitations of handsets and wireless networks. However, improvements in phone and network technologies now enable richer content, and are expected to evolve so full-motion streaming video may be available to mobile devices as soon as next year.

That said, Sprint and MobiTV provider Idetic Inc. were reluctant to set their expectations too high. "This isn't the kind of thing where you're going to watch a movie," said Paul Scanlan, co-founder of Idetic, adding that the frame rate is sufficient for viewing news content. He also added that the normal limitations of mobile phone use would apply to this technology.

"It's still a cell phone technology," he says, "so just like you may get disconnected on a phone call, you could lose the program. If you don't have good reception for a phone call, you're not going to get good reception for MobiTV."

While wireless technology is set to make groundbreaking video delivery improvements over the next six months, some handset makers are turning to other means. Samsung will soon introduce a cell phone with a built-in TV tuner that can pick up local television channels over broadcast airwaves.

But Sprint and the other majors in the wireless community are certainly hoping that enhanced features like MobiTV will fuel more widespread usage of subscription data services, the promise of which has commanded a considerable investment from all carriers. To date, 2.7 million of Sprint's 17.8 million cell phone customers also subscribe to the company's online service, PCS Vision.