9:30 AM -- Qualcomm Inc. (Nasdaq: QCOM) isn’t going to let a little thing like the European Commission deter it from launching its own mobile TV standard MediaFLO in the U.K.

Well, Qualcomm hasn’t exactly said that it’s going to roll out MediaFLO in the country, but the company just bought 40 MHz of prime mobile TV spectrum in the U.K. for £8.3 million (US$16.3 million). Using that spectrum for MediaFLO seems pretty likely. (See Qualcomm Wins UK Spectrum.)

The move would challenge European Commissioner Viviane Reding’s policy that backs competing mobile TV standard DVB-H as the preferred standard for Europe. (See Reding Riles Mobile TV Players, EC Backs DVB-H, and Fuzzy Reception for Mobile TV.)

— Michelle Donegan, European Editor, Unstrung