The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country’s broadcasting and telecommunications regulator, has licensed three consortiums, each led by the country’s three IPTV operators KT, SK Broadband and LG Dacom, to provide public service broadcasting over their broadband Internet networks.

Some of the ideas suggested in the project including allowing viewers to call their sons in the military, consult with doctors and buy produce directly from tech-savvy farmers, according to KCC officials.

"We will work to establish technology standards for public service IPTV and provide the programmes on mobile receivers,” a KCC official said, "By providing viewers examples of true convergence between broadcasting and telecommunications, we hope the public services will help IPTV generate more buzz."

Currently, public services on IPTV are limited to text announcements and simple video-on-demand (VOD) clips, but IPTV operators are now looking to add a wealth of interactive features. Alongside the government, they will combine to invest about 4.5 billion won ($3.5m) in public broadcasting services.

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Categories: Articles, IPTV, OTT