MediaFLO UK?
Qualcomm, the California-based wireless R&D giant with three offices and a research centre in England, paid a £8,334,000 license fee at an auction conducted by UK telecoms regulator Ofcom for 40 Mhz of L-band (1452-1492) spectrum that closed on 14 May.
The company is likely to use the spectrum for a British version of its MediaFLO mobile television broadcasting service. Qualcomm’s content provider would most probably be BSkyB, which has already conducted satisfactory tests of MediaFlo.
The move is a direct challenge to EU telecoms commissioner Viviane Reding’s diktat that Thomson Group’s DVB-H will be the preferred standard for Europe, contrary to the EU’s policy of technical neutrality. The French will not be pleased.
Possibly unhappy that its British remit prevented it from conforming to the will of Brussels, Ofcom weakly bleated that it retained the right to revoke the license.
