SK Telecom and five other Korean companies will jointly pursue an Internet TV project.
The Korean consortium, which also includes Samsung Electro-Mechanics,
Samsung Corp., Medidas, Caps and Chosun Internet TV, announced on
October 12 that they will join forces to seek the Internet TV business.
“Considering the rapid increase in the number of high-speed Internet
access
service subscribers in Korea, the overall environment and infrastructure
to
initiate such an Internet TV business are believed to have matured,”
said an
official of SK Telecom.
“In order to take the initiative in the Internet TV market, we formed a
consortium consisting of six local companies that are specialized in
their own
fields,” he added.
Under their plan, which divides the role of each companies for the
Internet
TV business, SK Telecom will exclusively provide contents and access to
Internet TV, while Samsung Corp. will launch a home shopping business through the Internet TV.
Samsung Electro-Mechanics and Chosun Internet TV plan to jointly
develop Internet TV set-top boxes and annually supply 150,000 units starting early next year, according to industry sources. Chosun Internet TV will take charge of selling the set-top box in the domestic market, while Samsung Corp will cover sales in the overseas market.
Medidas will develop medical instruments which enable online medical
examination and treatment by connecting to the set-top box, while Caps,
a security service firm, will provide remote security service through
the Internet TV.