Qualcomm it will use the radio spectrum it won in a recent US government auction to double the capacity of its mobile TV service across swathes of both coasts, an Associated Press report said.
The chipmaker paid US$554.6 million (€354 million) for the former UHF channel 56 in the areas around Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and San Francisco.
Qualcomm said the spectrum will enable it to double the capacity of its MediaFLO USA service from Orange County, California to Northern California on the West coast and from New Hampshire to Maryland on the East coast. MediaFLO will now have 12MHz of bandwidth in those areas, compared with 6Mhz in the rest of the country, the report said.
The 6MHz network was designed to deliver up to 20 live streaming video channels, as well as audio channels and short video clips.
Satellite broadcaster Dish Network won the remaining channel 56 licences in the the US with a surprising bid of US$712 million (€454 million) the report added.