Korea & Convergence

Japan and Korea have always been the trendsetters in the mobile and convergence segments. Korea'sbroadband advances are amongst the most recognised about the nation. Courtesy of Smartmobs saw this assessment of the status of convergence in the Korean market. I had been to Korea several times and in many ways associated with several developments there – and it is interesting to note that indeed the telecom market was dominated by
developments related to digital convergence. Video-on-the-go services, dubbed digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) as a cross between telecom and broadcasting, commercially debuted in May. Amongst the most notable initiatives include -landline access speed to a wireless terminal, pilot run of the broadband convergence network (BcN) project, an ultimate network integrating traditionally separated telecom, Internet and broadcasting pipelines, seamlessly switching over to a wired or wireless connection. BcN, which promises a speed of 100 megabits per second (Mbps), about 50 times faster than current broadband norm of 2 Mbps, has been touted as a mainstream network of the future. Satellite DMB, became popular this year - enabled by a signal beamed from satellite, lets folks on the road to enjoy crystal-clear video, theater-quality audio and data through in-car devices or handheld terminals like cell phones. IP TV has failed to be adopted,as in other parts of Asia and fixed-line telecom carriers are struggling to find the right time to market the futuristic services. today in the world - the number of mobile phones exceed the number of landline phones available- all this has happened in less than 15years –in korea, 80 % population are mobile subscribers as against 60% population subscribing to landline. Spurred by saturated local market, telecom operators are desperate for growth in digital convergence segments. Korea is all set to lead us into newer and newer developments in this convergence age.