MediaFLO Archives » Dr. Jonathan L. Kramer on Wireless Siting & Law

Buddy, can you spare $9B?

Posted on January 9, 2012January 9, 2012 by Dr. Jonathan L. Kramer

t-mobile-girl-network-kitty — Please feed the T-Mobile Kitty. (Photo illustration by Jonathan Kramer)

So T-Mobile, recently left at the alter by AT&T, is now looking for $9B to build out a LTE network that can compete with AT&T.

T-Mobile has a great start towards its goal when you consider that AT&T gave it $4B as a parting gift. If you have some loose change or small bills, please drop it in Carly’s cup. Heck, all she needs is another $5B. Easy!

$9B’s a lot of investment money simply to split the market even more than it is, today. It’s also interesting that T-Mobile seems determined to join the rest of the world by going to 4G via LTE rather than via its current industry-isolating path of HPSA+ (also known as “it’s 4G if we say it’s 4G”).

I continue to believe that T-Mobile will either join forces with Sprint (can you say “SprinT-Mobile”?) or T-Mobile will acquire one or several smaller regional carriers. How about “Hello…Hello…Hello” for example. A dark horse: Maybe Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile’s German parent will sell off its entire worldwide wireless network to some small country…or maybe to Microsoft.

Only time…and money…will tell.

MediaFlo FCC Licenses go to AT&T for LTE

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Dr. Jonathan L. Kramer

AT&T and MediaFLO have signed an agreement for AT&T to purchase MediaFLO’s 700 MHz licenses. The sales price is reported to be nearly $1.93 billion.

AT&T will use the new bandwidth to supplement its LTE data offerings starting in 2011.

iPhone/iPad users should be jumping for joy as this will help take the pressure off of the currently sssssslllllllllllllooooooowwwwwww data throughput that so many have complained about.

DWW: The new offense, brought to you by AT&T and MediaFLO

Posted on March 27, 2008 by Dr. Jonathan L. Kramer

Soon you’ll be able to speed down the highway who watching AT&T’s TV two-channel service on your mobile phone. Call it “Driving While Watching” (DWW).

“Gee, Judge, I really wanted to see the whole episode of Lost, so that’s why I accidentally hit that old lady crossing the street. Sure the light was red, but I was really engrossed in the plot when I passed over the lady, and really, there weren’t any cars in the intersection at the time. You understand, don’t you, your honor?!”

Here’s the PR puff:

AT&T Mobile TV – Coming to Your Wireless Phone in May

Innovative New Service to Broadcast on Two New AT&T Exclusive Handsets from LG and Samsung

AT&T Will Feature Full-Length Television Content, including Two Exclusive Channels

San Antonio, Texas, March 27, 2008

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) and MediaFLO USA Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM) announced today the launch of AT&T Mobile TV with FLO, a mobile television service featuring high quality live programming. The mobile TV service will launch in May 2008 on two new exclusive handsets, the LG Vu™ and the Samsung Access™. AT&T Mobile TV will also feature two exclusive channels, which will be announced soon.

AT&T Mobile TV will deliver full-length television content and sporting events from top networks, including programming from leading entertainment brands CBS Mobile, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, MTV, NBC 2GO, NBC News2Go and Nickelodeon.

“AT&T Mobile TV is a powerful new mobile entertainment offering, which will give our customers a formidable lineup of sports, news and primetime shows, including two channels exclusive available to AT&T customers,” said Mark Collins, vice president of Consumer Data for AT&T’s wireless unit. “We are thrilled to team with MediaFLO USA to offer our customers an unmatched mobile entertainment experience that is changing the way we all look at TV.”

“By making the FLO TV service available to AT&T customers, the nation’s largest wireless carrier, MediaFLO USA continues to expand our award winning FLO TV service to consumers across the country,” said Gina Lombardi, president of MediaFLO USA. “We look forward to working closely with AT&T to continue the momentum of making mobile TV a staple for more consumers.”

The AT&T Mobile TV service will be launched on two stylish devices: the Vu from LG Electronics MobileComm U.S.A. Inc. (LG), and the Access from and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung).

LG Vu: A sleek and stunning device, the Vu gives you a clear view of TV, Web, pictures or videos on its large interactive touch screen. It also lets you get the utmost in mobile entertainment with a music player, 2.0 megapixel camera and Bluetooth^® capabilities.

Samsung Access: This stylish handset features a large landscape display, ideal for delivering a rich viewing experience and an internal antenna for exceptional reception. It’s a great device for customers who are looking for advanced multimedia capabilities such as a camera, external stereo speakers, stereo Bluetooth, AT&T Music, CV, of course, AT&T Mobile TV.

More details on AT&T’s soon-to-be-launched mobile TV service from MediaFLO USA and the company’s exclusive handsets from LG and Samsung will be available soon. To learn more about AT&T’s other mobile entertainment offerings, visit www.wireless.att.com/entertainment.