Qualcomm’s FLO TV, which broadcasts TV to mobile devices in the U.S. through its major partners AT&T (NYSE: T) and Verizon Wireless (NYSE: VZ), said it is on track to reach its goal of covering 100 major markets and more than 200 million potential customers nationwide by the end of the year.
The company was delayed when the government decided to put off the transition from analog to digital TV signals. FLO was waiting for spectrum that was going to be freed up from that process. The new deadline is June 12, and today, the company announced that immediately following the transition this Friday, it will go live in 15 new markets, including Boston, Houston, Miami and San Francisco, and will expand in existing markets, including Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC.
By the end of the year, the company will have launched another 39 markets, serving another potential 60 million customers. Earlier this year, the company said in all, its broadcast TV service was covering 68 markets, making this a major expansion — and pushing it past its goal of serving more than 100 markets.
With a nearly nationwide network in place, the company will have the strength to seek out new distribution deals, and secure new vendor relationships with hardware makers. Currently, it’s partners, including AT&T and Verizon Wireless, don’t have incentive to roll-out a nationwide advertising campaign if only a portion of its subscribers can sign up for it. Likewise, it wasn’t prudent for FLO TV to do that either, and sell directly to consumers. However, those barriers come down with more reach. Bill Stone, FLO’s president said in a release: “With this national coverage, we are poised to take on the next level of consumer engagement by bringing the FLO TV service to customers on multiple entertainment devices beyond the mobile phone.
Comments have been disabled for this post