By BRUCE MEYERSON AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- Verizon Wireless has signed on as the first cellular carrier that will offer a broadcast TV network for mobile phones that Qualcomm Inc. plans to launch in late 2006.
The companies declined to say Thursday what programming might be featured over the MediaFLO system, which will be broadcast to mobile phones over a different portion of the wireless spectrum than cellular calls and data services.
Cellular operators in a handful of other countries already feature TV from a separate wireless network, using technologies from Qualcomm rivals such as Nokia Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Mobile users in South Korea, one of the most advanced markets, can now watch broadcasts via both satellites and terrestrial towers like those that will be used by Qualcomm.
-