South Korea - Current situation - History
01.02.2008
As the first country to commercially launch mobile TV, South Korea has also seen surprising growth in the number of DMB receivers which is now well over 7 million. This number is expected to rise even more with an increase in coverage; services already cover over 75% of the country. These numbers make South Korea the world’s most successful mobile TV market in the world! New data applications based on BIFS, have been recently introduced and broadcasters are anticipating an increase in revenue, as these will be subscription only.
20.01.2008
In December 2005, South Korea became the first country to commercially launch terrestrial mobile television using DMB, with a mixture of mobile television, radio and data services. Only a few months after the initial launch, the million mark in receiver sales was reached, and sales continued to sky-rocket: in summer 2007 the number of users of DMB reached approximately 5.3 million.
At the launch of DMB there was coverage of Seoul and the surrounding Kyonggi Province. At the beginning of July 2007 KBS, one of major territorial broadcasters in Korea, expanded the service area to the whole country and MBC is poised to follow in August. These numbers make South Korea the world’s most successful mobile TV market.