AT&T Mobility pushes back MediaFLO launch

AT&T Mobility has delayed its launch of MediaFLO USA Inc.’s broadcast mobile TV service to early 2008. More than eight months after committing to launching the service by the end of the year, and seven months after Verizon Wireless launched the service last March, the No. 1 carrier confirmed that its subscribers won’t enjoy broadcast mobile TV until early next year.
The carrier is now aiming to launch the MediaFLO-powered service in January or February of next year.
“Because it’s brand new we just want to make sure the product is going to be well received by our customers,” AT&T Mobility spokesman Mark Siegel told RCR Wireless News. “We just want to make sure we really have it nailed.”
AT&T Mobility declined to comment further on what might have caused the delay, only saying that there have been no issues with hardware or applications in several months of testing.
“We are talking about something very, very slight,” Siegel said. “We and MediaFLO both feel we need to take the time to make sure the user experience is going to be optimal.”
Perhaps it was more a marketing decision that anything else. “Frankly, January/February is a better time to launch a product than December,” Siegel added.
MediaFLO declined to comment and directed all questions regarding the delay to AT&T Mobility.