As the nation’s television broadcasters prepare to shut off their analog signals today, Qualcomm will use that spectrum to expand its FLO TV mobile television service throughout the U.S. starting today. Qualcomm’s service, which utilizes channels in the 700 MHz band that are being vacated by analog television broadcasters, operates in major cities that include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C. Although Qualcomm is building its own dedicated mobile network, the company currently offers FLO TV on a wholesale basis to carriers such as Verizon and AT&T, although it plans ultimately to sell the service directly to customers. Last February, Qualcomm was forced to postpone its nationwide deployment plans as Congress voted to extend the digital television (DTV) transition deadline to June 12. Effective upon the conclusion of today’s DTV transition, Qualcomm will immediately expand FLO TV to 15 additional markets, including Boston, Miami and San Francisco. As the year progresses, Qualcomm will roll out the service in 24 additional markets and boost power in several other markets with the goal of covering 200 million potential customers nationwide by the end of 2009. Proclaiming that, with the network’s expansion, “consumers across the country now have the ability to watch TV on the go with the same high quality they’d expect in their living rooms, FLO TV president Bill Stone said, “we are poised to take on the next level of consumer engagement by bringing the FLO TV service to customers on multiple entertainment devices beyond the mobile phone.”