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Rather than place all its eggs in once basket, Qualcomm, a major player behind one flavor of handset TV, called FLO (part of its MediaFLO system), recently announced a chip that supports its own plus two other competing mobile television technologies: Digital Video Broadcasting-Handheld (DVB-H) and one-segment Integrated Services Digital Broadcasting-Terrestrial (ISDB-T). These standards, and others like them, broadcast TV signals separately from traditional cellular-data networks, freeing up bandwidth for other mobile operator content with the promise of better quality video for the consumer as well.

The purpose of the Universal Broadcast Modem (UBM), as the Qualcomm chip is called, is to enable mobile handset manufactures to create flexible phones that are customizable. So operators can choose a handset knowing it'll support the type of mobile TV signal it decides to broadcast. This is economical for both the phone maker and the operator.

QUALCOMM VP of strategic products for CDMA Technologies Mike Concannon said, "Our UBM solution addresses the industry's need by providing a single universal chip that supports three of the world's leading standards, enabling mobile handsets to receive real-time content regardless of the broadcast technology selected by operators."

Although the UBM chip is designed as a companion to QUALCOMM's Mobile Station Modem baseband chipsets, it can be used with others as well, which should make it acceptable to a broad array of device vendors. It'll be a while before devices with the chip ship, however, as samples aren't even slated to appear until the first quarter of next year. The UBM works with both WCDMA (EVDO) and UMTS 3G phones.

MeidaFlo and DVB-H broadcast networks should square off later this year in the U.S..

Late last year Verizon announced plans to deliver handset TV services to customers through Qualcomm's MediaFlo technology sometime this year. It said it would do so in about half its high-speed markets.

In 2005, mobile TV specialist Modeo successfully pilot tested its DVB-H mobile broadcast network in Pittsburgh (where it is headquartered) and plans to officially launch service in select major U.S. markets, including New York City, later in 2006. Nationwide deployment, in the top 30 U.S. markets, is targeted throughout 2007.