The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has put forth its fullest efforts to ramp up the competitiveness of the Korean smart TV industry, assist in the solid growth of the IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) industry, and lay a foundation for the introduction of future information communication technology (ICT) services such as high-definition 3DTV, cloud service, and machine-to-machine (M2M) service. 

The IPTV industry achieved solid growth during 2011 with the number of IPTV subscribers surpassing the 4.4 million threshold. 

Choi Jae-you, assistant chairman of the Broadcasting and Communications Convergence Policy Office at the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), said government policies to support the offering of public services as well as investors have contributed to the consistent growth in the IPTV sector. 

Figures released by the KCC showed that the number of IPTV subscribers totaled 4.42 million as of November 2011, a nearly 10 percent rise over the 2011 goal of 4.12 million users. 

Four life-specific convergence service models — education, multiculture, food and agriculture fields — have been explored and spread, thus invigorating the IPTV industry, a combination of broadcasting and communications, which made a debut in Korea on Nov. 17, 2008.

The economic benefits the IPTV industry has brought about include the creation of 11,918 jobs, the addition of 2.925 trillion won in production induction effects and 1.673 trillion won in value-added induction effects over the past three years. 

These remarkable achievements were owed to the private sector's expanded investments into content and infrastructure, the development of new services and the government's support for the development of next-generation original technologies. 

Specifically, the KCC has taken stock of the implementation of IPTV businesses' action plans to spur continuous investments into content and networks.

A pilot project to explore a model tailored to IPTV-based education, multiculture, and diverse life-related public services has been carried out. 

The 2011 IAAF Daegu World Championships that took place in Korea between Aug. 27 and Sept. 4 was the first international sport extravaganza telecast in a 3D TV format and proved Korea's commercialization of 3D TV telecasting, which has since been designated as one of the candidates for digital TV standardization in North America. The KCC has turned to R&D support for the development of core technologies such as open-type platforms for the purpose of taking the technological upper hand in the global market and technology standardization in Korea and abroad. Korea's efforts to advance the spread of the smart TV in the domestic market at the earliest possible date and give the industry a jump-start in the global market have paid off. Smart TV set sales shot up 32 percent during 2011, compared to a 6.4 percent rise in 2010 over the previous year. 

KCC set aside 770 million won in 2011 for supporting three consortiums selected in April 2011 to allow for interactive voting, program information and social network services, linked with broadcasting programs. 

The government poured 10 billion won into the development of core technologies with greater ripple effects such as voice/movement recognition, search, virtual broadcasting, and N-screen transmission technology. 

The KCC has already drawn up a blueprint for developing "Beyond Smart TV" technologies in September. 

A smart TV standardization task force has been activated to improve users' conveniences and boost related markets.  nw