KCC and three IPTV services providers will now offer public service through their networks that will be mainly focused on the agricultural and military sector.
According to a statement given by officials, three Internet Protocol television service providers and the Korea Communications Commission will launch IPTV-based public services, as reported by The Korea Herald.
The KCC revealed that the consortium (LG Dacom, KT Corp. and SK Broadband) will make an investment of 4.53 Billion Won (US$ 3.6 Million) to develop and run various public services. These services will be including offerings for the military and farming sector. The projects aimed at the military sector will see an investment of 2.52 Billion Won and the government will give subsidy of 300 Million Won to each of the KT projects.
The KCC also said that the new IPTV public services would be far advanced than the existing ones as they would have features like interaction, and are likely to establish platform for expanding other related services to various public organizations and ministries. The KCC has also clarified that it will give subsidies to the three Korean IPTV operators for offering a number of interactive public services by means of their networks.
KT Corp. will develop various products for these services, such as educational tools, a remote-area video calling system and a trading system for marine and agricultural products. LG Dacom is endowed with the responsibility of developing a healthcare service that will include interactive medical consultant. SK Broadband, in collaboration with the Korean Tourist Association, will develop a travel service.
Our research report, “Global IPTV: Market Analysis and Forecast to 2011”, says that the adoption of IPTV is briskly increasing in South Korea, where around 90% of households use pay-TV boxes, either as a satellite dish or a cable box. The number of IPTV subscribers is projected to rise to about 3 Million by 2012.
Considering the prospective number of IPTV subscribers, the government decision to use IPTV for providing various medical supports, including interactive counseling, is a remarkable initiative. The government is also planning to make use of IPTV for offering medical treatment that will benefit poor and elderly to access inexpensive solutions.
A Senior Research Analyst at RNCOS also said “With the introduction of IPTV, the biggest change is likely to occur in Korea’s industrial structure. IPTV will be changed from non-real-time services, like VOD (Video on Demand) and information, to two way services by using real-time transmission of broadcasting contents in coming years.”
Related Market Research Reports:
Global IPTV: Market Analysis and Forecast to 2011
DRM Market Analysis - Future Directions
China Software Market Forecast to 2012
