Qualcomm Inc.'s MediaFLO mobile TV service (launched last March) is gaining momentum as Sprint Nextel Corp. confirmed it is conducting trials using the network technology and could soon join initial launch carrier Verizon Wireless in offering the service to consumers. The additional support could be crucial as competing mobile TV services come online.Sprint Nextel said it had branded its MediaFLO trial as "Vue" to help participants distinguish between the trial and its current mobile TV offering from MobiTV, which is delivered via Sprint Nextel's CDMA2000 1x EV-DO cellular network. The company explained that its Power Vision services provide sports and entertainment news, as well as more than 50 video and audio channels of live and on-demand programming. The carrier has even broadcast a live Bon Jovi concert directly to mobile phones and offers full-length pay-per-view films like "National Treasure," "Spider Man 2" and "Scarface."

Interestingly, Sprint Nextel recently warned its MediaFLO testers that they might experience intermittent disruptions to the mobile TV service due to “solar outages.” The carrier said there should only be about one outage per day between Oct. 4 and Oct. 9, and that the outage should only last 5 to 10 minutes. Back in December 2005, Verizon Wireless energized Qualcomm Inc.'s MediaFLO USA mobile TV movement by signing on to use the company's live multicast service that will be offered via MediaFLO's own $800 million network. Qualcomm is funding the dedicated network's construction and has said the network will use the company's nationwide license for TV channel 55. The chipmaker hopes to allow carriers a way to broadcast data-heavy video services without compromising their cellular networks. And although Verizon Wireless hasn't announced which vendors are supplying handsets for its mobile TV service, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and LG Electronics Co. Ltd. have announced plans to build phones for the technology.