Qualcomm makes its stand on digital TV transition
Published: 22 January, 2009
One of the most urgent decisions for the new Obama administration's telecoms team in the US is whether to delay the transition date for digital TV, currently scheduled for February 17. A delay of about three months looks increasingly likely, to allow consumers more time to upgrade their equipment, and is now even supported by Verizon Wireless, the nationwide holder of licenses for the 700MHz spectrum that broadcasters will now vacate. Another interested party is Qualcomm, which runs its MediaFLO mobile TV operation in 700MHz, and it is still fighting against a change of transfer date.
It made its first public statements this week, sending a letter to the relevant committees of the Senate and House of Representatives. In this letter, CEO Paul Jacobs asked for the date to be retained, or at least for Boston, Houston, Miami and San Francisco to be exempted should handover be delayed. It wants the original deadline to be enforced on nine TV stations in four major markets, allowing it to launch a large portion of its MediaFLO expansion as planned on February 18.
The four markets specified are the biggest holes in the MediaFLO network and Qualcomm revealed in an FCC filing last week that it has front-loaded its planned expansion to cover 200m people, involving a huge launch within days of the transition date. This would cover 40m people in 15 markets, and delays would leave those networks unused and postpone marketing and advertising campaigns by carrier partners.
"For three years now, Qualcomm has invested hundreds of millions of dollars getting ready for February 17 2009, when the DTV transition is to end, and we will finally be able to launch our MediaFLO service all over the country," Jacobs wrote. "In particular, our current plan is that on February 18 and the next few days thereafter, when the TV stations will finally have vacated our spectrum, we will turn on 100 transmitters all over the country. … To be clear, any delay of the DTV transition will prevent 40m Americans from enjoying our MediaFLO service and will penalize Qualcomm for having acted as a responsible FCC licensee in following the law and making the investments necessary to turn on our transmitters as soon as the DTV transition ends on February 17 2009. For these reasons we believe that it would be unfair, unjust and inappropriate to delay the DTV transition beyond February 17 2009."
MediaFLO attracted positive reviews from users in its live markets on inauguration day, when many other mobile services crashed under huge pressure of traffic.
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