Cingular Wireless L.L.C. hopes to build on its relationship with Apple Computer Inc. with a full-track music download service to launch next year.
An executive for the No. 1 U.S. carrier said Cingular plans to sell a push-to-talk phone later this year and hopes to offer song downloads in 2006, according to news reports. Cingular is the only carrier to offer the Rokr, a Motorola handset that plays songs from iTunes via PC downloads.
While U.S. carriers are rushing to deploy full-track downloads, only Sprint Nextel Corp. has said it will launch such a service by year’s end. Verizon Wireless is rumored to have postponed a full-track offering that was scheduled for later this year.
But operators likely will struggle to find an appropriate price for music downloads. While iTunes’ razor-thin 99-cent-per-song model has become a benchmark for PC users, analysts say wireless operators will have to sell songs at higher prices to see any substantial revenues.
