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Korea Telecom Shows Off its New IPTV Service
TMCnet Associate Editor
Korean incumbent fixed-line operator KT Corp reportedly showed off its new IPTV service during a demonstration in Seoul yesterday. Following the demonstration, company officials announced plans to launch IPTV service in Korea by the second half of next year.
According to published reports, KT showcased 12 services which were accessed through touch-icons. These included live television, pay-per-view, information, learning, communication, commerce, multi-angle, audio, high-definition, entertainment, video-on-demand and set-up.
KT has been ready to launch IPTV for some time but has faced regulatory hurdles from the Korean government, as well as turf wars between telecoms and broadcasting regulators.
The Korea Broadcasting Commission has said IPTV should be subject to broadcasting regulations and the launch of any IPTV service should be determined by the needs of cable television operators. Korea’s Ministry of Information and Communication argues IPTV is a form of telecommunication service and earlier this year Communications Minister Chin Dae-je requested reporters to refer to IPTV as “internet content on-demand” (ICOD).
KT officials say they expect the regulatory issues to be resolved during the first part of 2006.
”Of course, legal frameworks should be put in place before we run out web-based television services,” Lee Sang-hoon, senior executive vice-president of KT’s Business Development Group, was quoted as saying by the Korea Herald newspaper. “But we expect regulation issues to be resolved in the first half of next year, and commercialize the services in the latter half.”
Patrick Barnard is Associate Editor for TMCnet and a columnist covering the telecom industry. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page
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