AT&T customers can pay to watch TV via cell phone
Subscribers pay $15 per month to receive a dozen channels on their mobile device
By Jaclyn Giovis
South Florida AT&T customers with fully-loaded phones now have another option: buy a TV package.
AT&T this week activated its Mobile TV service in roughly 20 new U.S. markets, including an eight-county area that stretches up Florida’s eastern coast and encompasses Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties.
Subscribers pay $15 per month to have basic access to live, color TV programming from a dozen news and entertainment sources. Customers can also upgrade their Mobile TV package to include unlimited mobile Web access and data usage for an extra $15 monthly.
"People are so mobile today they want to do everything in the palm of their hand including watching TV," said Kelly Layne Starling, the South Florida spokeswoman for AT&T.
The service does not affect the user’s phone minutes or interrupt phone service, Starling said. If a subscriber receives a call or message while watching TV, an alert gives them the option to accept or ignore the call or message, she said.
AT&T Mobile TV works on the following handsets: the LG Invision, LG Vu, Samsung Access and Samsung Eternity.
Mobile TV users will have access to CBS Mobile, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX Mobile, FOX News, MSNBC, MTV, NBC 2Go and Nickelodeon. Exclusive to AT&T customers is CNN Mobile content and the movie channel Sony Crackle.
Subscribers also have periodic access to "bonus" channels featuring live sporting events and concerts.
The service runs on a multicast network maintained by FLO TV Incorporated. The national shift to digital television has enabled FLO TV to expand its network coverage nationwide. It’s available in more than 80 markets.
Jaclyn Giovis can be reached at 954-356-4668 or jmgiovis@sunsentinel.com.