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Hutchinson Whampoa, which operates British mobile provider [3][2], has teamed up with [Sling Media][1] to delivery streaming cable television to mobile devises.
The announcement is part 3's new "X-series" service which aims to more broadband services to mobile subscribers. The X-series service, which for now will only run on the Nokia N73 and the Sony Ericsson W950i, will come with Sling Player Mobile pre-installed.
Also included in the package are offerings from Orb, Google and Microsoft. For the time being 3 has declined to give any pricing details, but a SlingMedia spokesperson I talked to said the new package plans will move away from a bandwidth-based price structure to a subscription model.
The new service is available in the UK beginning December 1st.
SlingPlayer Mobile is software that allows you to watch their regular television on your mobile handset. The company first introduced the software earlier this year and currently supports Windows Mobile smart phones.
The version to be installed on UK phones will be running on the Symbian software found in popular Nokia and Erikson handsets.
Hutchinson, 3's parent company has 3G networks in eight countries worldwide and is expected to follow the UK rollout with similar offerings in its Australian, European and Asian markets.
This is the first time SlingMedia has partnered with a mobile carrier to deliver its software and services.
Entertainment companies and content providers have historically been reluctant to support any technology that delivers content outside the traditional channels, but Brian Jaquet of SlingMedia claims the company has been working with not against the entertainment industry.
"We've had a lot of discussions with content holders to address their concerns," he says adding, "It's a fine line that you walk, you want to deliver a great application and service, but you want to be mindful of the content providers rights as well."
I asked about the possibility of a similar U.S offering, but so far SlingMedia has no immediate plans. Jaquet says, "you can't look at it as a cookie cutter situation, every market is very different."
[1]: http://www.slingmedia.com/indexa.php "SlingMedia.com"
[2]: http://www.three.com/ "3 X-series"
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