DVB-H vs MediaFLO

A hot topic recently is the struggle between DVB-H and MediaFLO. DVB-H is open source, MediaFLO proprietary. One is going to take longer the other is going to be available soon. One is GSM oriented, the other more CDMA. Sound like Betmax vs. VHS - well, you are right, it is.

Why would wireless carriers need another whole band of spectrum when they are just rolling out 3G services? Well, it turns out that 3G still needs room for voice and unicast media. When you start talking about multichannel, multicast delivery of TV channels, 3G can't handle it.

As I have said before I think that Mobile TV is really going to catch on faster in countries that have a mass transit system. Obviously America is well out of that category. However, I also think that limiting Mobile TV to cell phone handsets is missing the mark. There are many portable media devices floating around that could easily become TV enabled.

If you think about Mobile TV beyond the cell phone handset, you will soon see the kind of time-shifting and place-shifting trends that are effecting regular TV consumption.