Posdata begins IPTV service in US in september

POSDATA Begins IPTV Service in US in September
POSDATA will begin the IPTV service in the US in September. POSDATA said that it is working with Celrun and AcanetTV to establish a joint venture in the US. The joint venture will have a capital of KRW 10 billion and manage the IPTV service in the US. POSDATA will attract content providers for movie and drama shows to provide the content continuously. Also, it will invite companies which established a marketing network in the Korean-American community. In last January, it held a bench mark test for CAS/DRM, VOD/CDN and set-top box to designate contractors for the system build-up. And, the build-up began in the last month. The service initially targets the Korean-American community as well as the Asian communities like Chinese, Japanese, Filipino and Vietnamese, familiar with Korea’s drama shows and movies. Later, it will expand the service coverage to nationwide, targeting mainstream viewers. Particularly, the service will be focused on the content business including drama shows, entertainment shows and movies. Then, it will expand the business to TV shopping, VoIP service, online education, karaoke and games. Also, it will provide the mobile IPTV service by combining the IPTV service with its WiMAX business. And, it will develop the relevant solutions to create synergetic effect. As of last year, the Korean-American community consists of 700,000 households. The number of Korean American reaches to 2.2 million, showing a sizeable market. Particularly, there has been no on-demand service provider for Korean-American who want to watch Korea’s broadcasting content. And, the existing video rental service is diminishing due to the low quality of picture. Therefore, the needs for new service is growing, laying the foundation for the IPTV service. POSDATA plans to begin the service in California including Los Angeles, where most Korean-Americans live so that the demand for Korea’s broadcasting content is high. President Yu Byung-chang of POSDATA said, “We’ve provided content service for cartoon and traffic information in Korea. Particularly, in Pohang and Gwangyang, we are providing various services like the internet line, portal and VoIP. Based on our content service know-how and our experience in establishing the IPTV system for Hanaro Telecom, we will firmly lay the foundation for our success in the US.”