TORONTO - Watching live TV on a mobile phone isn't an entirely new concept, and yet relatively few Canadians have probably done it.
Bell (TSX:BCE) is hoping that changes during the Vancouver Olympics. The company is offering access to 16 channels of live video, as well as highlights packages that are updated every half hour.
But users will have to watch their data usage judiciously or face a potentially massive bill once the Games are over.
Bell transmitted mobile video during the last two Olympics - in Turin in 2006 and Beijing in 2008 - but with the recent launch of its high-speed data network and the growing popularity of smartphones, the time is finally right for consumers to tune in, said Loring Phinney, the company's vice-president of corporate and Olympic marketing.
"In Turin we were the first to bring live television to your handset, (but) obviously it was a small screen. It was a leadership-position opportunity, we learned from (it). ... It sounded really cool but it actually wasn't functional," Phinney said in an interview.
"In Beijing we saw more smartphones, more larger screens, more capacity, and both (Games) in our minds were training exercises on how to get ready for, ultimately, the big show (in Vancouver). And what we've got now, quite remarkably, is (16) live channels on your cellphone, something that's never been done before, it's unprecedented in sport."
Bell has exclusive rights to transmit Olympics video to mobile phones. Users can tune into seven live channels from TV networks - including CTV, TSN, Sportsnet and RDS - and nine special venue feeds, which offer uninterrupted views of the action.
"As long as that venue's lights are on you're getting that venue live, without any commercials, without any commentary," said Phinney.
There's a $10 fee for existing Bell customers to get access to the video streams, while new customers can get it thrown in if they sign up for a special Olympic-themed package, or a bundle of services.
But that price does not include data fees.
Bell says there are 40 devices that can display the Olympic videos, including some non-smartphones. For those non-smartphones, Bell has a $10 data package that includes unlimited transmissions.
It's a different story for consumers with smartphones.
Bell estimates that each minute of video viewing eats up about nine megabytes of data, which adds up to 540 megabytes an hour.
Bell has smartphone plans with 500 megabytes, one gigabyte or two gigabytes of data per month, which would let consumers watch close to an hour, two hours and four hours of video respectively.
Exceeding your plan is expensive at five cents per megabyte - that's about 45 cents for a minute of video viewing, or $27 an hour.
So Bell customers with smartphones may want to catch some of the action while on the go - but just some of it.
Bell spokeswoman Julie Smithers defended the lack of an unlimited data plan for smartphone users.
"People watch in small sections of time, so a few minutes here and there ... that's how people have used it and that's how we've created pricing for it," she said, adding that Bell's competitors price their data similarly.
"In the past we have had an unlimited option and even then, customers have only watched small amounts of time."
Bell's mobile TV feature is innovative but too expensive for most consumers, said Carmi Levy, an independent technology analyst based in London, Ont.
"This is a service that I think will impress a lot of Canadians who are used to hauling a small portable television up to the cottage and getting fuzzy reception. ... This is a world apart from what portable television used to be," Levy said.
"Unfortunately, these advanced services, high-bandwidth services like mobile television, will continue to be out of reach for most Canadians until the carriers get real with their rate plans and their pricing schemes. Because the way it's configured now, it essentially sets subscribers up for a very large bill."
Users can track their data usage online at Bell.ca.