Is Cell TV “a fool’s odyssey in an industry hungry for new growth? Perhaps not,” argues this article from the AP, via FOX:
“I don’t know if people will want to watch it, but every time I say one of these `I don’t know’s,’ it goes beyond my wildest imagination,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T’s chief operating officer.
He pointed to the explosive growth of text messaging despite the lack of a full keyboard on cell phones, as well as the surprising demand for ringtones, an $800 million a year revenue stream for AT&T.
Outside the United States, 400,000 people in Italy are using a cell TV service launched less than a year ago by the mobile carrier 3, a unit of Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. Those customers, representing nearly 6 percent of the carrier’s 7 million users, are paying as much as 29.99 euros ($40) extra per month to get TV on the go. In Korea, several million have signed up for mobile TV services from TU Media Corp. and others since 2005.
Such a swift customer embrace would likely thrill Verizon, which is charging $15 to $25 a month for V Cast Mobile TV. The company, its revenue per subscriber stuck in the $50 range, won’t say how many customers have signed up for TV since the launch in roughly 20 markets, but there are some encouraging signs.
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