DirecTV Group (with 15 million U.S. subs), is in discussions with EchoStar Communications (12 million subs), to create a U.S. wireless high speed Internet service, DirecTV CEO Rupert Murdoch told Reuters today.
DirecTV, the top U.S. satellite television operator, is expected to announce a decision on how and when they will build a broadband wireless service in the next few weeks. In an interview with Newsweek, Murdoch said he’ll announce a $1 billion plan later this month.
Will Rupert Murdoch take this opportunity to present the technical nuts and bolts? Not likely. Still, it doesn’t take much imagination to see how combining Beceem’s Mobile WiMAX cards (for laptops, PDAs and indoor clients), with Motorola basestations using PicoChip and Arraycomm for 1-5 mile coverage, could work. Clearwire’s 2.5 GHz licenses might be a better partner than Sprint (which already has their own partnership with cable companies). Intel and Microsoft might make good partners, too, along with MediaFLO or DVB-H for the mobile tv component. You can’t leave out the mobile tv component, say Korean WiBro planners.
Skype is adding new teleconferencing features through a collaboration with Intel. The first Skype enhancement will be 10-way IP-based conference calling using Skype 2.0, with video calling enhancement planned for later this year, and extending Skype services to Intel-based handheld systems via Wi-Fi and WiMax networks.
A telco partner like BellSouth or Qwest wouldn’t hurt, either. Their landline markets don’t overlap and BellSouth owns several dozen WCS (2.3 GHz) licenses where it’s running “pre MobileWiMAX” with Navini gear.It could be a cellular killer. Quadruple play.
Or maybe not. Mobile WiMAX currently drains way too much juice for handset use, say industry insiders. But wait two years. Bang! Zoom!
Related DailyWireless stories include; Winner of the Triple Play, DirecTV Readys Two-Way, Echostar: Not For Sale and Satphones Localize.
[...] DailyWireless has more on Satellites and Space including; BSkyB + Google, Murdoch: Bang…Zoom!, Antennas In Space, Satellite Jam, Pacific Satellites Fail, Eutelsat HotBird 8, China/US Space News, MSS: AWS Alternative?, and Software Radios in Space. [...]
Left by dailywireless.org » John Malone in Space on December 7th, 2006