[BC] Mobile streaming - who needs IBOC?

[Rich Wood]

------ At 10:52 AM 6/27/2006, Goran Tomas wrote: -------

>So for a fixed monthly cost, only slightly higher than what you are 
>already paying your mobile service provider, you can listen to any 
>station, anywhere in the world, anywhere you happen to be on the 
>cell phone you are already carrying with you all the time. And, 
>unlike IBOCs 96kbps, 48bps, 32kbps (or even lower than that), this 
>could easily and soon be in true, 44.1kHz, 16 bit, linear, stereo 
>digital quality!
>
>I don't know, but it looks to me IBOC is about to face some pretty 
>advantageous and easy-to-use competition. The future of radio might 
>very well lie in delivery through mobile networks...

Monthly cost is the issue. Barry has a Treo 650 I want very much. I 
still do. However, Cingular approaches the phone with two separate 
networks. The phone is cellular and the PDA is data. Unlike most 
phones, you can't access the web on the regular cellular network. You 
have to pay $39.99 extra to have the phone receiving spam 24/7. As a 
last ditch effort I visited the local store where there's a 
technician who knows everything. He confirmed it. I need to have web 
access 4 or 5 times a year, yet I'd have to pay $40+ with tax extra. 
My current phone uses the regular network and charges either per use 
or on a data plan. I don't have the same choice with the Treo.

I believe digital wireless will obsolete IBUZ long before it ever 
gets up to speed. The questions I have are: can it support the number 
of listeners radio currently has? My understanding a stream requires 
a connection to the server. Cisco's multicast page repeatedly 
mentions local routers. Can it handle the load? More important, will 
cellular broadcast  providers provide service to rural areas not 
currently served? Much of Northern New England has no cell service 
much beyond major highways.

In rural areas I believe hybrid IBUZ will provide no service. If 
small stations can afford it the coverage falls off throughout much 
of the service area.

If "network neutrality" goes away will it be cost-effective for 
broadcasters to pay premium prices to be carried? High quality audio 
is a lot of data 24/7. Will we end up with a radio version of must-carry?

Rich