According to this BBC Article there is a growing move towards tv programming on mobile phones. The key disadvantage is the amazingly high cost; one of the people interviewed paid $50 for 45 minutes. High pricing seems to be a problem as it so often is for mobile services.
It does seem like a handy thing though. I suppose Three in the uk is doing something kind of similar, but in a much more limited way, with their streaming video services. It’s even possible that if the price was not unreasonable then I might even use the service myself. Although I would probably have to upgrade my phone to do so. I don’t think anyone is going to manage to offer streaming video on a nokia 6210 🙂
$1 / minute sounds unbelievably painful. But I could see this taking off if they can supply the right content. The reason being that in a few years time, everyone will have a phone capable of receiving this stuff. If they can find content people would be interested in (sports coverage highlights in particular I imagine), then I think they will find people willing to make use of it. After all, you already get people paying ridiculous prices for ringtones, and the abillity to have their text messages displayed on TV. If the means is there, and it’s easily usable by all (not like WAP), then I think they can expect to get the customer base with little effort on their part. All they’d need to do is include the TV services in the standard services menu that would be installed when your phone is set up with a network. (As happens with Vodaphone’s services already AFAIK.)
Later.
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