MediaFLO goes live in San Diego

Qualcomm filled a slightly embarrassing hole in MediaFLO network coverage today, announcing that the broadcast TV service has now officially launched in its hometown San Diego. MediaFLO is now live in more than 50 markets as AT&T prepares for its network launch in May.

Qualcomm first launched MediaFLO in 20 markets in January 2007 on the Verizon Wireless service. Since then Qualcomm has been growing its footprint slowly due to problems with the 700 MHz spectrum it uses for broadcast. Building the Forward Link Only (FLO) network is much cheaper than a cellular deployment since Qualcomm could use only a few tall towers and high-power transmission to cover an entire market. But the 700 MHz band hasn’t been fully vacated by its previous occupants, analog TV broadcasters. The FCC has given broadcasters until 2009 to leave, and though Qualcomm has owned the licenses for years, it has to negotiate with its current tenants in every new market before the MediaFLO service can go up.

The MediaFLO footprint now covers 130 million customers across 55 markets, including Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando and Philadelphia. Qualcomm hopes to grow this number to 200 million by 2009. That schedule will give Qualcomm coverage of about two-thirds of the population by the time its first competitor comes online. Though MediaFLO effectively squashed two other potential Mobile TV players, Crown Castle and Aloha Partners, a venture run by Craig McCaw, ICO Global, expects to have a satellite mobile TV service up and running in 2009.

AT&T’s launch will feature two exclusive channels, one from Sony Pictures Television and the other CNN. Although AT&T or MediaFLO haven’t release any other details of the launch, the Boy Genius Report today reported that AT&T’s mobile TV service would officially launch on May 4, when the LG Vu and Samsung Access are also predicted to debut. Citing anonymous sources, the blog said that subscription packages will range from three levels, with limited channels available at $13 a month, basic at $15 per month and a ‘plus’ package of 10 channels for $30 each month. The limited plan includes mobile channels Fox, CBS, NBC and NBC News. Subscribers to the basic plan will get these channels, as well as Comedy Central, MTV, Nickelodeon, ESPN and CNN, AT&T’s exclusive. Sony’s movie channel in addition to all the basics makes up the plus package. Both handsets will also include the ability to put parental controls in place, much like on the TV set.

The MediaFLO partnership builds on AT&T’s existing mobile TV offering with MobiTV, which this week announced it has enhanced is content delivery server. A similar service has been available over Verizon’s VCast TV service for almost a year and a half, but AT&T hopes this offer will be competitive with the number two carrier’s service, also powered by MediaFLO. As long is there is a consistent wireless signal, AT&T Mobile TV, essentially a broadcast delivery of its channels, should not experience the latency issues and pauses due to buffering that streaming video often encounters.