Testing and initial deployment of Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) are proving successful in Korea, and the service appears to be on its way to large-scale acceptance, according to In-Stat/MDR. The high-tech market research firm expects the Korean DMB market to surpass $800 million in annual revenue by 2010. ...ΒΆ... In-Stat/MDR has also found that: DMB is well suited for mobile multimedia, holding significant advantages over satellite broadcasting and wireless LAN, in terms of mobility, and is more price-competitive for consumers than Video-on-Demand (VOD) services delivered over the 3G network. ... Link: In-Stat/MDR.
Be sure to see Bob Miller's comments below. --Dennis
Since DMB is used in both a terrestrial and satellite version the claim that it is superior to satellite broadcasting is confusing.
That is they have a terrestrial venture and they have a satellite venture with a terrestrial component ala Sirius and XMRadio.
The rest of the world doesn't need to use their DAB spectrum for DMB broadcasting of video like S. Korea is. They can use DVB-T and H. S. Korea is stuck with 8-VSB terrestrial for full power broadcasting and had to adopt DMB for mobile video delivery since 8-VSB doesn't work mobile. The rest of the world except the US Canada and Mexico is not so constrained.
The rest of the world can use standard TV spectrum with 6,7 and 8 MHz wide channels for mobile video instead of sacrificing their 1.25 MHz wide radio DAB spectrum.
When you pick bad technology for political purposes it is strange how this twist the rest of your thinking. S. Korea will pay big time for making these bad choises down the road.
They have already paid a price in lost HDTV monitor sales in the US because of our choice of 8-VSB DTV modulation.
For the last five years the sale of HDTV monitors and DTV sets have been driven more by people wanting a better DVD experience than by over the air HDTV.
In fact 9 out of 10 HDTV set buyers don't buy the an over the air receiver even though over the air is where 90% of HDTV content is found.
This is directly attributall to the poor performance of 8-VSB receivers and the disinterest that the entire TV food chain has shown in building, selling or buying said receivers.
This is a world where a million digital TV receivers will be purchased just for Christmas in the UK with one sixth our population.
The stubborness of Korean manufacturers in sticking with 8-VSB will open the world to Chinese manufacturers and close out Korean manufactures over the coming years to most of the world market.
And DMB will only be used on the Korean Penisula.
Posted by: Bob Miller | Monday, 20 December 2004 at 11:17