IP-based TV projects hit snag

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Conflict between government bodies, broadcasters forces delay

The government-backed pilot projects for next-generation Internet appears to have hit a snag with the country's four terrestrial television broadcasters withdrawing their decision to participate in trial operations.

The television broadcasters had originally planned to develop services and business models with telecom operators for Web-based television, considered a killer application for the future Internet industry.

According to the state-run National Computerization Agency, which manages the implantation projects, the land-based television stations - KBS, MBC, SBS and EBS - notified the agency last week of their intensions to postpone participation in the trial operations and said they might consider pulling out completely.

The television stations had been expected to sign partnerships this month with consortiums led by telecom operators KT Corp., SK Telecom Co. and Dacom Corp. The alliances would have joined pilot projects for the broadband convergence network, slated for commercial launch next year.

"We have been negotiating contracts with the three consortiums over the terms and outline of the broadband convergence network pilot projects for this year. However, the pullout of television stations could change everything," said National Computerization Agency spokesman Kim Yu-jung. The agency is currently in talks with the Ministry of Information and Communication over the possibility of extending the contract deadlines and searching for new partnerships, Kim said.

The broadband convergence network is conceived as a massive Internet protocol that provides connections at speeds of 50 mbps to 100 mbps, or about 50 times faster than conventional broadband services provided here.

Policymakers hope the system will provide the backbone for future information and communication technologies by allowing the overlapping of voice, video and data upon a single network. Thus, the commercial adoption of Internet protocol-based television plays an important part under this scheme.

The sudden reluctance of the television companies toward the broadband convergence network pilot projects are related to a recent conflict between the country's broadcasting and telecommunications regulators over the jurisdiction of IP-based television.

The Korean Broadcasting Commission, the country's broadcasting regulator, announced plans earlier this month to start trial operations for IP-based television, intensifying its lengthy debate with the Ministry of Information and Communication over the legal boundaries of the new multimedia services. The commission said it would announce a plan for the Web-based broadcasting pilot projects as early as this month.

TV stations are now facing the decision whether to join both IP-based television pilot projects or step out of the broadband convergence network scheme, according to industry watchers.

The Ministry of Information and Communication insists that IP-based television services should be considered as an extension of telecommunications. The Communication Ministry even adopted a new name for the futuristic broadcasting services - I-COD for Internet content on demand - in an attempt to promote their logic over legal boundaries.

By taking the lead in the industrialization efforts for IP-based television, the Korean Broadcasting Commission said it will seek to achieve a competitive balance between cable service providers and telecom companies in the nascent market.

Cable television service providers fear the possibility of being forced to compete with telecom carriers, such as fixed-line telephony giant KT Corp., which holds more than 50 percent of local Internet customers, over the same market.

In August last year, the government picked three consortia, respectively led by KT, SK Telecom and Dacom, to conduct the broadband convergence network trial operations that are scheduled to run in 1,350 households in the cities of Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju and Daejeon through the end of this year, while attracting around 2 million users. Commercial services are expected to go online in 2006.

(thkim@heraldm.com)

By Kim Tong-hyung
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