AT&T finally adds 3G support for SlingPlayer Mobile app

AT&T announced it will now support placeshifting technology developer Sling Media's SlingPlayer Mobile video application across its 3G mobile broadband network, almost a year after restricting the iPhone app to WiFi on grounds that 3G streaming would consume too much network capacity. According to AT&T, it has been testing the SlingPlayer Mobile app (which enables users to stream live and recorded television content from their home entertainment system to their iPhone) since mid-December, and recently notified both Sling Media and Apple that its 3G network can now support the service.

"Just as we've worked with Sling Media in this instance, we look forward to collaborating with other developers so that mobile customers can access a wider, more bandwidth-sensitive, and powerful range of applications in the future," said AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets president and CEO Ralph de la Vega in a prepared statement. "Collaboration with developers like Sling Media ensures that all apps are optimized for our 3G network to conserve wireless spectrum and reduce the risk that an app will cause such extreme levels of congestion that they disrupt the experience of other wireless customers." The operator added that its AT&T Developers Program website will provide network optimization requirements for video and other applications by the end of the first quarter.

Sling Media first issued SlingPlayer Mobile in May 2009--although AT&T took the fall for the controversy that followed, contending 3G streaming would consume too much network capacity, Sling indicated the service was WiFi-only at Apple's request. Nonprofit media reform organization Free Press later challenged AT&T's decision to allow Major League Baseball's At Bat application for iPhone to stream mobile video across its 3G network after prohibiting support for SlingPlayer Mobile.

The New York Times noted Sling Media is still waiting for Apple to approve the upgraded application. Sling Media said customers who've already purchased the $29.99 app will receive the upgrade for free.

For more on AT&T's SlingPlayer Mobile approval:
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