People who simply can't live without their TV will soon be able to get it on their cellphones through a service being introduced in Canada by both Rogers Wireless and Bell Mobility.
MobiTV, the technology behind both offerings, is a wireless Java application created by Idetic Inc. It has been deployed in the United States since late 2003, and is used by Sprint PCS, Cingular and regional carriers.
The Canadian cable giant's new service is called Rogers Mobile Television, and will initially offer eight to 10 channels, the company announced Thursday.
During Rogers' press conference, Bell issued a brief and hurried press release saying it intends to deploy the same MobiTV service, but did not say how many channels it would deliver. Bell said its mobile TV offering will become available at the beginning of May, while Rogers would commit itself only to the end of June, although a representative said it would likely be available sooner.
Final pricing has not been announced for either system, but Rogers' service will cost between $19 and $25 per month, Rogers vice-chairman Philip Lind said. An initial promotional period will be offered for $9 per month, plus additional data transport costs of between $10 and $15, depending on the wireless data package that the customer chooses. It will be a subscription service, Mr. Lind said, not "a la carte."
Rogers mentioned prominently that it would be sending exclusive clips of highlights from Toronto Blue Jays games — Rogers Communications also owns the team — that will "attract new fans in a new way," Blue Jays president Paul Godfrey said. "We're the very first to be involved in this in all of major-league baseball."
At the time of launch, Rogers Mobile Television will be available to Rogers Wireless customers on several wireless phones models from Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson. Rogers says it will initially offer a lineup selected from the following channels: MSNBC, CP24, NBC On-Line, Discovery, TLC, The Weather Channel, Meteo Media, NBC Mobile, Major League Baseball Highlights, Comedy Time and ToonWorld. The company said it would announce additional channels "in the weeks and months ahead."
Bell said its system would be sold for an introductory price of about $10 per month, plus mobile browser airtime to download the content. Bell did not list any channels, but said it would provide "live streams of audio-video content like sports, news, weather, entertainment and comedy."
MobiTV delivers content exactly like that seen on television, only scaled down for viewing on cellphones, or what Mr. Lind calls the "third screen" after television screens and computer monitors. Shows are delivered on the high-speed data networks used by the two wireless carriers — Edge, used by Rogers, and the 1X system used by Bell.
Several hundred thousand U.S. people subscribe to Idetic's wireless TV offering, said Idetic CEO Philip Alvelda, who was at the Rogers announcement. He said the services are enjoying a major success and his company's clients have found that "people will pay more for MobiTV than for any other mobile application.
"It's going to be big. Really big," he added.
