Country Information for DAB, DAB+ and DMB - South Korea
| Current situation | Coverage | Services on Air | Receiver Market | Regulation | Links |
Latest News from South Korea
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Country Update from South Korea
10-06-2009
As the first country to commercially launch mobile TV, South Korea and is one of the most successful markets in the world with almost 20 million devices sold. Of these devices the most popular are mobile phones followed by navigation systems and PDAs. There are six major broadcasters providing a variety of services to the South Korean market including mobile TV services and new data applications such as BIFS. TPEG services are also available giving the consumer traffic and travel information. There are a couple of hundred DMB devices available in this market and usage of mobile TV increases year on year in this region. Interactive services are also growing in popularity adding value to broadcasting services. The Korean government has set up a digital audio project to recommend a digital audio broadcasting standard for Korea
Current situation
in South Korea
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Last update: 08-09-2008
- older versions
| Population: | 59.0 million |
Coverage: | |
| Services: | 5 DAB, 6 Data, 5 DMB |
| Sales (accumulated): | 7,800,000 devices |
As the first country to commercially launch mobile TV, South Korea has seen surprising growth in the number of DMB receivers which is now over ten 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 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.

Coverage
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Last update: 20-01-2008
DMB services cover approximately 75% of the country (almost all residential areas).
Services on Air
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Last update: 03-09-2008
- older versions
In this country there are
- National multiplexes: 3 Regular
There are seven video services, 13 audio services and eight data services on air, five of them public and 23 commercial.
| Simulcast on AM / FM | Exclusive on digital | Total of services | |
|---|---|---|---|
| DAB programmes | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| DMB programmes | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Data services | 2 | 4 | 6 |
| Total | 10 | 6 | 16 |
Receiver Market
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Last update: 08-09-2008
- older versions
There are a large number of retailers in Korea selling DMB devices, and there are over a hundred different models by over thirty different manufacturers on the market. The most popular are DMB mobile phones and GPS devices.
Sales have sky-rocketed since the initial launch of DMB services.

Regulation
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Last update: 08-09-2008
- older versions
The Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) and the Korean Broadcasting Commission (KBC) govern broadcasting. The MIC is responsible for the development of broadcasting technology, spectrum management, and the licensing of stations. The KBC is responsible for regulation of content and advertising, as well as authorising and recommending licences. Only one licence is awarded to the multiplex operator, who can then either provide their own programmes or can lease capacity to other programme providers. The government divided the country into six regional broadcasting areas and 13 new nationwide broadcast licences have been granted for DMB services.
Useful Links Top
http://www.dmb-alliance.org/
