Buried amid the avalanche of new content Verizon Wireless launched over its Vcast consumer 3G services today was an interesting take on music service. Verizon and partner Warner Music chose to leap over the standard digital music file download service and go head straight for music videos.

The video download service is not only a first for a U.S. carrier, but also a first for any U.S. ISP, wired or unwired. It's intended to be part of the mixed bag of 3D games and exclusive video clips that comprise the premium content offering for which Verizon will charge over Vcast's $15 subscription price. According to Verizon officials, the service will have a rotating menu of 10 to 12 full-length videos from popular Warner Music artists. Currently the list includes the likes of My Chemical Romance, the Used and Sean Paul, but those choices will be regularly refreshed as new videos are released or become popular. The cost? Each video is a hefty $4, but considering ringtones often run upwards of $2.50, the price may not too exclusive for Vcast's presumed early adopter clientele.

Verizon's launch today featured several types of video content including 1-minute television dramas called mobisodes made specifically for handsets. Unlike Vcast's other video content though, the music videos will be available for download. A subscriber keeps the video for as long as he or she likes and each VCast handset has the memory to store about 10 videos.

Though it eschewed an audio file download service at VCast's initial launch, Verizon hasn't ruled out such a service in the future. "We've got a tremendous line-up today," a Verizon Wireless spokesman said via e-mail. "With our great broadband network, we have a lot of opportunities to offer consumer services."

While carriers and the record labels have been debating launching music download services in the past, issues of bandwidth, handset capabilities and digital rights management (DRM) have held them back. DRM issues were overcome--or at least set aside--with the successful launch of Apple's iTunes music store and other portals, but technology limitations have still prevented any type of robust music download over wireless networks in the U.S. AT&T Wireless tried to tackle the problem of bandwidth by launching a music portal that allowed customers to browse, preview and buy music from a handset, but the service sent the actual purchased music file to a PC due to the capacity restraints of its GPRS/EDGE networks. Verizon's EV-DO network overcomes those bandwidth restraints offering 300 kb/s to 500 kb/s of on-air capacity and since the service is available only to Vcast subscribers, all of the phones with access to the network will have the memory necessary to store multiple files.