By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter

Video-on-the-go will become a reality in Korea next month as satellite digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) commercially debuts next month.

TU Media, the firm in charge of the business, on Wednesday opened its DMB station and declared a new era had dawned _ watching TV programs through cell phones.

``We will make it more convenient for watchers with this take-out TV. We also aim to dictate a new trend and open up a novel market with this converged service,’’ TU Media president Suh Young-kil said in a ceremony to mark the opening of the DMB station.

Satellite DMB enables people on the road to watch crystal-clear video, CD-quality audio and data through a handheld gadget like a cell phone or an in-automobile terminal.

Affiliated with the nation’s primary wireless operator SK Telecom, TU Media embarked on a pilot run of the mobile broadcasting in January for free with three video channels and six audio programs.

In time with the commercial rollout of satellite DMB, TU Media will operate seven video channels _ news, sports, soap opera, game, movie, music and TU Media’s own channel _ plus 20 audio channels.

``We intend to make this take-out TV service more attractive by eventually increasing the number of video channels to 14. Data broadcasts will also start next year,’’ Suh said.

Those who want to sign up for the service should pay a one-off subscription fee of 20,000 won and 13,000 won will be levied as a monthly usage fee.

Clients who promise a one-year subscription will get a 10-percent discount off the monthly fee and the rate cut would rise to 15 percent for a two-year contract and 20 percent for a three-year deal.

In an effort to promote the new offering, TU Media also plans to exempt subscribers from subscription fees and the monthly rate next month.

Currently, three satellite DMB-enabled terminals are available _ Samsung Electronics’ SCH-B100 phone, SK Teletech’s IMB-1000 phone and an in-car device made by Inno-S.

Other handset manufacturers including LG Electronics, Pantech & Curitel and Motorola plan to introduce their own models for satellite DMB this year.

History of Satellite DMB

In order to carve out a new revenue stream other than its voice calls, SK Telecom began eyeing up mobile broadcasting in 2001 and has pioneered the business.

The carrier established its affiliate TU Media that year and made a consortium in 2003, which comprises up to 200 domestic firms of contents providers and handset makers.

It also teamed up with its Japanese partner Mobile Broadcasting Corp. and jointly launched MBSat, the satellite that beams broadcasting signals to cell phones, in March 2004.

TU Media originally planned to jumpstart commercial satellite DMB services last July but the late passage of related law and bureaucratic red tape delayed the schedule by about a year.

Due to months of partisan disputes, the National Assembly wasted too much time in passing the revised broadcasting law, a must to start the DMB services, in 2003 and 2004.

The parliament finally gave a green light to the revision in March 2004 on the last day of the 16th Assembly and then lengthy bureaucratic processes held back take-off of the new service again.

It took half a year for relevant ministries and agencies to streamline all related regulations, a task that was completed in September, and that was not the end of the story.

In the face of protests from its unionists, the Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC) also delayed the issuance of a business license as late as last December.

Toiling through the process, TU Media once threatened to give up the business even though such a decision would lose the firm a large amount of investments.

SK Telecom and TU Media have channeled 147 billion won in launching the satellite and set up the DMB station.

To cover areas with poor coverage such as in subways or buildings, TU Media shelled out 124 billion won to install a total of 4,800 gap fillers or relay devices.

The company plans to invest 120 billion in upgrading its facilities this year and separately will spend more than 700 billion won in the next five years to secure more broadcasting contents.

Bright Outlook

Several months ago when the authorities were hesitating over the launch of satellite DMB, the market consensus was that the new service would have a hard time taking root.

The emergence of a free alternative service, called terrestrial DMB, even caused some investors and the tech-savvy to turn their backs from satellite DMB.

However, things began changing abruptly in favor of satellite DMB of late after the government allowed TU Media to rerun popular over-the-air programs on cell phones.

Early last week, the KBC made the unexpected approval despite strong opposition from broadcasting unionists, a move that led all broadcasting penal members at National Union Media Workers to resign.

Wary of losing their monopolistic standing in the domestic market, the nation’s terrestrial broadcasting stations have urged the KBC not to permit the rerun of their programs via satellite DMB services.

TU Media looks to start a series of negotiations with the country’s terrestrial broadcasters _ KBS, MBC, SBS and EBS _ to work out a deal to rerun their programs.

The setbacks of its rival terrestrial DMB, which will be rolled out in May in Seoul and the surrounding Kyonggi Province, also brightened the once-dimmed prospects of satellite DMB.

Terrestrial DMB was initially supposed to be free of charge but charging fees for the service gained popularity among six licensees due to the high cost of installing gap fillers to cover underground areas.

If rates are charged, the commercial viability of terrestrial DMB will worsen, considering that the service features just six video channels compared to its satellite rival’s maximum of 14.

Another critical drawback of terrestrial DMB is that its services will only cover Seoul and its vicinity for the time being, while satellite DMB is a nationwide offering.

voc200@koreatimes.co.kr