China Satellite Mobile Broadcasting Corporation, the company owned by China's State Administration of Radio Film and Television, has signed an agreement with China Mobile to jointly promote the development of TD-SCDMA mobile phones with the CMMB function to provide wireless streaming video.
The two sides will reportedly implement cooperation based on their content, network, and brand marketing resources. New products jointly developed by the two companies are expected to be launched soon.
Shen Hongbing, general manager of Beijing TiMi Technologies, a core developer of the CMMB standards, told local media that when promoting the TD-SCDMA mobile phones with the CMMB function, China Mobile will be in charge of the management of CMMB, including fee collection and operation. The two sides will share the profits from the CMMB services, but a detailed profit-sharing scheme is not yet available.
An insider from China Mobile also confirmed the news and the person revealed that the CMMB modules will be implanted in the TD-SCDMA mobile phones of China Mobile. With regards to the charges of the CMMB programs on TD-SCDMA mobile phones, the insider said there will be free-of-charge programs and paid programs and these programs may be provided to users in packages.
SARFT previously cooperated with China Mobile to give TD-SCDMA mobile phones with the CMMB function to Olympic-related organizations and groups as gifts during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. After that, several types of such mobile phones have been approved by China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to enter the Chinese market.
Statistics provided by SARFT show that the CMMB networks have been established in 150 cities around China. By the end of 2009, the coverage will be extended to 337 prefecture-level cities.