Video-Conferencia em celulares, no Canada

(Fonte: ZDNet)

Rogers Communications on Monday said it has become the first wireless carrier in North America to offer video calling to cell phone subscribers.

The company, which is Canada's biggest wireless provider, with more than 6.8 million customers, will essentially let subscribers use their cell phones much like Web cameras to complete video calls.

It will also offer access to various video and music services on its cell phones, including the top 50 video clips on YouTube every week.

The services are being delivered on Rogers' new HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) network.

Networks such as this allow for much faster wireless download speeds, comparable to broadband high-speed wireline service.

This, in turn, lets companies such as Rogers offer access to various multimedia services. As revenue generated from voice calling slows down, phone companies are looking to bring text messaging, videos, games, music and other data services to drive profits.

Recently, Canadian telephone company Telus partnered with private mobile entertainment company Amp'd Mobile to deliver games, videos and music to cell phones. Amp'd provides the content and handsets, while Telus handles sales, distribution, billing and pricing.

Telus stirred controversy earlier this year with its decision to offer cellphone downloading of pornographic content. It scrapped the porn downloads in February after complaints from hundreds of customers and criticism from Catholic church officials.