저작권자 © Korea IT Times 무단전재 및 재배포 금지
Cable television service operators in Korea are worried about the adoption of digital broadcasting due to high digitalization costs and the need to secure a verified system.
Since the cable television industry which has captured over 70 percent of domestic TV viewers as subscribers, industrial generation effects worth over 5 trillion won can be expected as a result of the digitalization of cable television (CATV). The sales of domestic digital TVs are forecast to expand to 2 trillion won and exports will increase considerably. Naturally, analog-broadcasting related products will be replaced by new equipment by an amount estimated to be worth 2 trillion won. And, as a result of the digitalization of broadcasting with telecommunications, a new infrastructure is expected to be constructed and expanded. Furthermore, a great number of new jobs will be created, thereby significantly expanding employment.
In the meantime, it is anticipated that the digitalization of over one hundred CATV service operators in Korea will cost 1.65 trillion won. And, about 15 billion won (H/Es, 5 billion won and set-top boxes or STBs, 10 billion won) of initial digitalization cost per each system is expected.
Payments of this size are considered very difficult for individual service operator to bear. As such, alternative plans, such as the operation of a digital media center (DMC), have been pursued. However, the expected effects of this effort are considered to be minimal.
Because of the special features of CATVs, it is desirable to operate the services centered on individual service operators or multiple system operators based on the regions. Rather than a DMC, the organization of systems that each service operator can operate at reasonable prices are needed.
In the case of the conformity of solutions, high technological capabilities and cooperation among companies for the perfect conformity of the specifications of OpenCable between all hardware and terminals are required.
In the case of imported products, their prices are high and its compatibilty and hence optimal usage is limited. Also, a lot of time and cost are required for the development and operation of various additional services.
About 70 percent of the total profits of CATV are secured through additional services rather than broadcasting. The costs of the development and operation of additional services are a few times higher than the costs of the initial introduction of systems.
Hence, in the case of using foreign-made equipments, a lot of the costs resulting from the dependency of the technology must be paid. These costs range from the costs of the initial introduction to the costs of the additional services later on.
The localization of solutions is a feasible alternative solution to the problems of the conformity and costs involved in introducing foreign-made equipment. The localization of the main equipment needed for the digitalization of CATV for solving these problems is needed, without fail. In the case of localizing the equipments, the introduction costs can be around 50 percent lower than the costs of the introduction of foreign-manufactured equipments. And, over 10 times the size in terms of the effects can be obtained during the development and management of the conformity among equipment and additional services.