Friday, June 30, 2006

Korea:T-DMB Hugely Popular

Seoul Korea - Korean media reporting government figures report that one million mobile terrestrial digital-TV receivers were purchased in South Korea in the first six months or so after the service was launched, according to government figures.

Of the million receivers sold, about 32 percent are accounted for by mobile phones. The others are devices such as laptops and digital media players.

The service, called terrestrial digital mobile broadcasting or T-DMB, was launched in December and broadcasts seven TV stations and companion radio and data services. It is currently available in Seoul and coverage should expand nationwide by the end of 2006.

The broadcasts are free-to-air, a key reason why it is attracting consumers, said companies selling receivers.

Jay Lee, a senior manager at the digital media business unit at Samsung was quoted as saying that people don't want to pay extra money for their TV. Reception for digital TV is already offered in several of Samsung mobile phones and the company expects to include this feature in more models soon.

By the end of this year, there are expected to be 3.4 million mobile broadcast TV subscribers, jumping to 102 million in 2010, according to a report issued by InStat. In South Korea, domestic estimates put T-DMB terminal sales at eight million by the end of 2007.

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