Alltel tries a social approach to mobile video

Alltel Wireless launched a new social video service, Alltel Social Video, designed to give Alltel customers with video-capable phones access to videos collected from various sources, in an environment conducive to sharing.

The new service costs $2.99 per month and lets users share and rate videos from sites such as Break.com, AtomFilms and GrindTV.com. Subscribers have the ability to share favorite videos through the "Send-to-Friend" feature. Users also have the ability to create video playlists and customize a distribution list for each video.

Even though many phone owners have the ability to browse the Internet and visit these sites directly, their Internet data charges would certainly total more than $2.99 per month; and besides, their carriers would likely discourage video viewing.

Alltel has chosen to work with Transpera, a mobile video service provider that aims for seamless user interaction. Transpera is a relatively new company when compared to Zannel and Mojungle, so a partnership with Alltel could give it a much-needed boost.

Mobile phone providers have slowly moved away from voice data plans and towards feature- and service-based benefits. Mobile video access has been one such feature, and although its appeal has been limited thus far, Alltel hopes its service's low price and social networking aspect will foster a broader market segment.

While listening to music on mobile phones has been popular, video still lags behind, even with new services and choices available to consumers. For example, the MobiTV service allows users to get TV and radio content sent directly to their phones, but only a small number of users are willing to pay $9.99 per month.