In what could be a bad sign for the future of the fledging ATSC's mobile TV standard, Qualcomm, the owner of its top competitor - FLO TV - said the mobile television platform has failed to meet
expectations and may be sold. FLO TV is the main pay television platform used by Verizon Wireless and AT&T, the nation's top cellular phone providers. The broadcasters, who are testing their own
system in Washington, D.C., have been unable to get carriage with either of these companies. Sprint is involved in the current mobile DTV trial, but has no long-term commitment to carry it.
If Qualcomm keeps FLO TV, there's a good chance it will enter the datacasting business. Today, the service simply provides pay television channels to mobile customers. In the future, with the
mobile carriers now tiering their data plans, FLO could become a datacaster without caps that delivers a range of information without adding traffic to the mobile networks.
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