According to Bloomberg, Qualcomm is in discussions with AT&T to sell its FLO TV spectrum, UHF TV Channel 55. As previously reported, both Verizon and T-Mobile indicated they were not interested in buying the spectrum. Meanwhile, top Qualcomm executives have kept mum; chairman/CEO Paul Jacobs has repeatedly said that the company is exploring all options for the now-defunct FLO TV.
Qualcomm spent close to $1 billion to launch and run FLO TV: $683 million to acquire the spectrum and at least $120 million more to build out the network and devices and market the service. The chip manufacturer may actually make its money back and more in a sale, however, because spectrum has become more precious in a post-Apple iPhone/iPad mobile universe. For its relatively brief history, FLO TV featured content from ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, ESPN, MTV and CNN for an undisclosed but reportedly very low number of subscribers.
