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Korea in the digital vanguard

by Shashank Tripathi, Korea

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Sony PS3 to become an IPTV platform in Korea

Oct 12, 2007 10:10

Korea Telecom will soon connect its IPTV service that will feed shows to Sony's PlayStation 3 games console.

Mega TV launched in June 2007 (the same month the PS3 officially went on sale in Korea) as an HD-capable revamp of KT's earlier, standard definition-only Megapass Internet TV offering. In September 2007, KT rolled the service out to all of its broadband customers nationwide, about 5.5 million of them, having previously offered the service only to those in Seoul.

Not all of these subscribers also pay for Mega TV, of course. KT has set its annual target subscriber base to 300,000 users, and hopes the deal with Sony should go some way to helping it achieve that target. I have tried to suss out the pricing for this deal, about how PS3 owners will have to cough up for this additional "feature" of Mega TV, but the only thing I managed to find was that the player software will be made available through a download direct to the games console... er... settop box.

As I reported earlier on this blog, KT's main rival is Hanaro Telecom, which also offers an IPTV service, Hana TV, alongside its broadband connectivity packages. Both telecoms have been known to be courting Sony, and while Hanaro is the current trailblazer in this (relatively small) market, I suppose you can expect a Japanese megafirm to sign up with a company such as Korea Telecom for the perceived safety in the long run.

Will this help the PS3 in Korea, or elsewhere if Sony pursues this model of bundling IPTV?

We know that while reports of Wii "kicking butt" abound and the Xbox is making shameless inroads into what was one a solid PS3 lead, Sony has been running around in circles trying to add functionality that may or may not appeal to its core target market: Gamers. The PlayStation 3 is now a powerful computing machine itself, equipped with large data storage, a fast graphics processor and a Blu-ray Disc player. Yet, the best, hottest new games are coming from the Xbox camp.

In January at CES, Microsoft demo'd its IPTV software for the Xbox 360 I'm not too sure if this will do a whole lot to PS3 sales, but KT seems upbeat as long as it pushes some new subscriptions out the door. But the PS3 team may do itself a huge favor if it resumes its old focus on creating the best games on the market.

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About Shashank Tripathi

Shashank Tripathi, nicknamed Shanx, believes that a rocking hammock, a good book, and a tall glass of strawberry milkshake are the way to save the planet. But that does not fill all the hours in a day, so he cuts his teeth on digital advertising and media, spending a good part of his life expressing opinions as though they were going out of fashion, or drawing boxes that connect to each other with shiny black arrows. Occasionally, he has also been accused of poetry.

Locus: Based in Singapore, but a devout jetrosexual.
Focus: Media, Advertising, Ubicomp, All things Digital.
Other: LinkedIn, Facebook