Verizon aims to stream next year's Super Bowl over LTE

Computerworld - LAS VEGAS - Verizon wants to use its nationwide LTE wireless network to stream the 2014 Super Bowl live, CEO Lowell McAdam told a keynote audience at International CES late on Tuesday.

"Using LTE...we'd love to broadcast the Super Bowl in the 2014 time frame," McAdam said in an onstage interview with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

Goodell noted that a partnership with Verizon has enabled an NFL Mobile channel, atop of other NFL TV and Internet offerings that bring pro football to audiences year-round.

"There's never been a better time to be a fan," Goodell said.

Whenever the NFL offers fans another way to learn about players or stats or games, the content has been a success, he said. "Once they find content, they want more," including the news from the draft season after the regular season.

McAdam said that 4G LTE wireless from Verizon now reaches 89% of the U.S. population, offering fast speeds and capacity. LTE is generally rated at 10 Mbps on downlinks. But LTE also has the capacity to allow streaming of live video over the same channel to millions of users, McAdam said.

"Our goal is to break down barriers between home and the globe," he said.

McAdam's keynote also looked at other ways Verizon is using wireless networking to improve in-car technology and healthcare.

Ford Sync technology allows for "connected car" personalized content to reach vehicles wirelessly. Sync, by Microsoft, is open and device agnostic, offering tools "to make transportation systems smarter," he said.

"Barriers to innovation in [the healthcare] industry are coming down," McAdam said. CT-scans and other radiology imagery can be sent over the Internet to see a heart beating in 3D in real-time, he noted.

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Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at  @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed. His email address is mhamblen@computerworld.com.

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