With the two largest U.S. operators committed to Qualcomm's MediaFLO broadcast TV service, the tier 2 and tier 3 carriers are starting to take a serious look at the service. MediaFLO USA President Gina Lombardi says that Alltel is testing the technology and she is getting lots of inquiries from other Tier 2 and smaller operators. But smaller carriers may have more of a struggle, since the service is currently only available in 25 markets nationwide.
While MediaFLO is working on expanding to other markets, the company is also looking at ways to refine its service. Lombardi says consumers want to watch full-length movies on the service so MediaFLO is considering adding a movie channel. In addition, the company is trying to figure out what type of local content, if any, consumers want. "We are trying to figure out what is missing from our offering that consumers want to see," Lombardi says. -Sue