STRATEGY ANALYTICS: VCAST Offers Best Sound, Image Quality; While MobiTV Preferred for Realtime Viewing; 12 Percent of US Mobile Phone Owners Willing to Pay for Mobile TV Access

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2005--Strategy Analytics, the global research and consulting company, today released its latest mobile application benchmark report, "Live TV, Channel Branding Drives User Preference for MobiTV over VCAST," which concludes that MobiTV on Sprint TV Live is the highest rated Mobile TV service in the USA, with a five point performance gap over Verizon Wireless' VCAST. These results come from hands-on consumer testing by the Strategy Analytics Advanced Wireless User Panel.

While VCAST was rated 22 percent higher than MobiTV for Audiovisual Quality, when asked to indicate overall preference, the majority of consumers were found to be willing to sacrifice video quality for access to real-time streaming of "live" TV. Also, users perceived that MobiTV service offers more preferred content from trusted TV channel brands than VCAST.

“While most consumers found the streaming quality and frame rates so poor that they would only consider watching Mobile TV services for short periods at a time, they valued Mobile TV services for access to fast-breaking news and up-to-date information while on the move”

"While most consumers found the streaming quality and frame rates so poor that they would only consider watching Mobile TV services for short periods at a time, they valued Mobile TV services for access to fast-breaking news and up-to-date information while on the move," noted Kevin Nolan, Director of the Advanced Wireless Laboratory at Strategy Analytics. "For this reason," Nolan continued, "users found Sprint's live MobiTV offering more appealing than the pre-recorded 'made for mobile' clips offered by VCAST."

David Kerr, Vice President of Strategy Analytics Global Wireless research, added, "1 in 8 US cellphone users would pay $10 per month for unlimited TV access via mobile phone. However, potential users are acutely aware of the limitations of the current generation cellular TV offerings in terms of access/download speed, audiovisual quality, and impact on battery life. Until operators address these limitations, they will be unable to fully monetize the potential of TV services via the cellular network."

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Strategy Analytics, Inc. - a global research and consulting firm - provides timely insights and strategic business solutions to companies operating at the convergence of information, communications and entertainment technologies. For more information, see www.strategyanalytics.com