20,000 mobile TV customers in two weeks

May 16, 2005 - source: BWCS

The potential of mobile TV to capture customers' imaginations seems to have been proved by the rapid take-up of a newly-launched South Korean service. Barely two weeks after announcing its new satellite digital multimedia mobile broadcasting system, TU Media, an offshoot of SK Telecom, Korea's largest mobile operator, reported that it had already garnered 20,000 subscribers.

According to the company, an average of 1,500 customers per day, have been signing up to the new service. TU Media believes this is doubly impressive as, so far, there are only two makes of mobile handsets on sale in Korea which can receive the service. Satellite DMB enables subscribers to access clear TV broadcasts, CD-quality audio and data through handheld devices.

TU Media commercially launched satellite DMB services on the 1st May this year, offering just seven TV channels and 20 audio broadcasts. At the moment, would-be customers must first purchase either a Samsung SCH-B100 handset or SK Teletech's IBM-1000 terminal; both are which are fitted with DMB receivers. However, other handset manufacturers are expected to announce new DMB models very soon, with the giant LG Electronics due to launch one this week.

The mobile TV subsidiary of SK Telecom confidently expects that the availability of new handsets will push new subscription rates up from 1,500 daily to 3,000 a day. TU Media says it expects to reach 600,000 customers by the end of this year.

However, all is not rosy in the world of Korean mobile TV, for example TU is facing challenges as it tries to diversify into offering sports programming via mobile phones.

According to local press reports, Korea's four terrestrial broadcasters - KBS, MBC, SBS and EBS - have apparently decided not to allow TU Media to rerun their sports programmes until a terrestrial DMB system is established.

The country's non-satellite TV companies had hoped to start their own version of mobile TV services, via a terrestrial TV feed, as opposed to a satellite signal, this month. However, one difficulty they face is paying for a way of relaying pictures into "blind-spots" such as subway stations and beneath high buildings. The satellite service has already taken this step.