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The advent of next-generation TV services like digital cable and Internet Protocol TV means users can now do on their television set what they once needed a PC for.
Dacom said Monday it will launch a TV banking service in cooperation with the state-run Korea Post. Digital cable TV subscribers in some areas of nine cities will be able to carry out banking transactions by only pushing buttons on their TV remote controls. Beneficiaries include residents in Gangseo-gu and Dongdaemun-gu in Seoul, Gwacheon in Gyeonggi Province, Suseong-gu in Daegu and Nam-gu in Busan.
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Subscribers to the digital cable TV service use the banking service of the Korea Post by pressing buttons on their remote control.
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However, customers have to apply to use the service at a post office and install a separate set-top box. Dacom plans to join hands with Kookmin Bank, Kyongnam Bank, Kwangju Bank, Daegu Bank and Pusan Bank to expand the service. The number of subscribers to digital cable TV is expected to rise from 170,000 late last month to 7.7 million by 2010.
Banking is not the only thing that can now be done via TV. Video portal services, once considered possible only on PC, are now provided through Hana TV, Hanaro Telecom’s IP TV service. The service airing drama and movie repeats on Internet-connected TV has drawn 43,000 subscribers a month since its launch. IP TV is different from cable TV since it is provided through broadband Internet networks and makes TV more versatile by providing various additional services. The number of subscribers is expected to exceed 3.7 million by 2010.
But PC firms are not sitting idle in the face of these challenges. Intel and others are trying to hold on to their customers by introducing technology and products allowing PC users to operate audio equipment and TVs throughout the home by a mouse-click.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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