The Hindu Business Line : Qualcomm in talks for mobile TV foray here

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Bangalore March 6 Qualcomm is looking to build a consortium of telecom firms to get into mobile TV in the country. "We are looking to build consortia for all international markets outside of the US," said Mr Kanwalinder Singh, President, Qualcomm India & SAARC, adding, "In India, we are in dialogue with few interested parties for telecom content and network domains."

The consortium will include the likes of content firms and broadcasters. The task would be to build a MediaFlo network, create content relationships and manage the network. Qualcomm's MediaFlo is a proprietary air-interface technology that sits atop a telecom network, which will help in cost-effective deployment of mobile TV.

Spectrum Allocation

"The entity should appeal to content providers and operators to bring the service to the marketplace," said Mr Singh. Qualcomm has performed a similar manoeuvre before in Japan. It tied up with operators KDDI and SoftBank to set up a body that would focus on mobile TV. However, their set up in the US was spun off into a separate entity as the market demanded it. The firm expects the consortium to help it get a say in spectrum allocation. Mobile TV will be commercially unleashed on Indians in the next two years.

"In India, entertainment and content creation is a big thing. Receptivity for this (Mobile TV) concept is high. And when consumers see the technology physically work on a handset, when they view it, they are blown away by the experience of switching channels," said Mr Singh.

Rural Development

The use of mobile TV, while primarily being for entertainment, could also help realise the President, Mr Kalam's `technology for rural development' vision. "We could use Mobile TV to send an interactive video on pregnancy to a villager, in her mother tongue, solving issues of reach and understanding. In the lines of the old TV serial Krishi Darshan, we could also broadcast the steps to cultivate his land right to his handheld," said Mr Nikhil Jain, Chief Technical Advisor, Qualcomm India. For this to take place, Mobile TV needs to be given an affordability check. However, the firm is confident that reducing handset prices would make this happen in a few years.