LAS VEGAS—Qualcomm Inc. said it would blanket Las Vegas with its MediaFlo mobile TV technology in conjunction with the CTIA Wireless 2006 trade show, which starts tomorrow.
Qualcomm said the citywide demonstration network will use two transmitters and will allow CTIA attendees to view a variety of live MediaFlo demonstrations. LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd., Motorola Inc., Pantech, Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Wireless Corp. said they would be showing off MediaFlo-capable handsets as part of the demonstration.
Interestingly, Samsung said it would show off a prototype MediaFlo handset that runs on W-CDMA technology. The move likely is aimed at GSM operators reluctant to team with CDMA proponent Qualcomm for mobile TV services. So far only Verizon Wireless—a CDMA operator—has signed up to use Qualcomm’s MediaFlo network in the United States.
Qualcomm is racing with Crown Castle International Corp.’s Modeo subsidiary to launch a nationwide mobile TV network. Such offerings are designed to move bandwidth-hungry video content off cellular networks and onto networks dedicated to broadcasting video to mobile phones.
