Hiwire about to enter the crowded Mobile video space
Aloha Partners LP announced its plans to enter the anyway crowded mobile TV space through its subsidiary Hiwire. The new company intends to start offering mobile TV using the DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld) transmission technology and 700 MHz spectrum. Its main competitors will be Qualcomm Inc. with its MediaFlo service and Crown Castle International Corp. through its subsidiary Modeo. They are also building nationwide networks to broadcast TV for mobile phones users. Aloha Partners LP, which is one of the largest 700 MHz spectrum holders in the US (TV channels 54 and 59), is backed up in this undertaking by SES Americom (a subsidiary of SeS Global that provides content to cable operators) as well as several former cable executives. Hiwire plans to trial the DVB-H technology in Las Vegas this coming fall and expects to be able to launch it commercially later this year. According to the Hiwire's president Scott Wills, they will need about $500 million to deploy the networks in the top 150 markets. The exact channel lineup is not determined yet.
Source: RCRNews; Multichannel
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