Verizon's CEO has a plan for wireless pay-TV, if the government will allow it

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/29/verizons-ceo-has-a-plan-for-wireless-pay-tv-if-the-government/

Verizon CEO Lowell C. McAdam doesn't quite have all of those SpectrumCo AWS licenses in his pocket just yet, but if he does get them he has a decidedly old school idea of what to flood the airwaves with: TV. The Wall Street Journal quotes him saying Verizon and its new cable friends could have "the beginnings of an integrated offering" out by the holidays, so pay-TV customers could watch video on their mobile devices. Even though many of the TV services are already streaming video to tablets, PCs and phones, currently most subscription services are limited to the space of the home's WiFi network, unlike the video on-demand seen above. According to McAdam the potential to negotiate rights for outside the home streaming and even busting open the bundles for à la carte programming exist -- provided the FCC and DOJ allow Verizon to complete the proposed $3.9 billion purchase. Of course, consumption based billing would still be on the table, so don't start planning your streaming schedule just yet. For now we'll wait and see if the pros of this arrangement outweigh the cons (and how its Redbox play is mixed up in this), or if the pie-in-the-sky NowTV-style elements of the plan are merely being floated to get the deal done.

Verizon's CEO has a plan for wireless pay-TV, if the government will allow it originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Mar 2012 23:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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