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LG CNS has succeeded in commercializing the first smart set top box in the country.
The company has begun its pilot services on September 23 to Gangwon Broadcasting Network (GBM), followed by C&M in October. This is the first instance in which a Korean cable broadcasting company is providing smart TV services to its subscribers via a smart set top box. LG CNS is planning to expand its services to CMB in November, to C&M in the following January, and then to other cable broadcasting companies throughout the nation.
The set top box is a device which facilitates the reception of digital broadcasts by an analog TV set, and has mainly been distributed by the cable broadcasting companies. A smart set top box adds the features of TV applications and internet access to the existing software.
In anticipation of the era of digital/smart broadcasting, LG CNS has, for the last two years, been striving to develop a smart set top box which is optimized to the demands of the cable broadcasting companies. These efforts have resulted in the successful development of an Android OS-based product that allows cable subscribers to use the convenient smart TV feature by simply connecting the device to their television sets. (Reference1)
The newly developed smart set top box supports the ‘TV App Store’ through which subscribers can download TV apps. Simply put, the smart set top box provides the same Android Market as for smart phones. LG CNS is expecting that this venture will enable apps developers and users to engage freely by stimulating the TV apps environment.
With the new product being acknowledged overseas for its performance, LG CNS is expecting to achieve commercialization in overseas markets soon. In fact, the new product’s advancement into the overseas markets is soon expected to be given the green light. Since it was exhibited at the International Consumer Electronics Show(CES)(Reference2), in the United States, at the China Content Broadcasting Network (CCBN)(Reference2), and the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) (Reference2), in the Netherlands this year, overseas broadcasting companies have shown a great deal of interest in the product, and are engaged in ongoing specific discussions with LG CNS for contracting.
LG CNS said, “Our new smart set top box model implements an ideal combination of hardware and software that can satisfy both the paid broadcasting companies and subscribers. We will endeavor to expand our domestic market and have our technology acknowledged overseas.”
[References]
Reference 1) Features of the LG CNS Smart Set Top Box
LG CNS’s smart set top box is unique in that it optimizes and distributes Android-based software to the cable companies, contrary to conventional set top boxes, which were distributed while installing only the kernel (a type of application programming interface (API) for controlling the hardware). Broadcasting companies can save the time and costs involved in developing and installing new applications for existing set top boxes, and viewers can use the smart TV feature to upgrade from their conventional cable TV service through a simple installation.
Reference 2) Overseas Exhibitions
- CES: The world’s largest annual international electronics show, held in Las Vegas, U.S.A.
(The International Consumer Electronics Show)
- CCBN: International broadcast/cable/satellite equipment exhibition held in Beijing, China
(China Content Broadcasting Network)
- IBC: International broadcasting equipment exhibition held in Amsterdam, Netherlands
(International Broadcasting Convention)
Reference 3) Market Prospects for the Smart Set Top Box
The current number of subscribers to domestic cable broadcasting is estimated at 15 million, from which 3.8 million (25.5%) have applied for set top boxes for digital TV as of the end of June.
(Source: Excerpted from ‘Cable TV Subscriber Status for June 2011’ by the Korea Cable Television & Telecommunications Association (KCTA))
LG CNS is expecting at least 10 million prospective subscribers to the smart TV function (e.g., Apps, internet) from amongst cable subscribers who are already subscribed to public/cable TV via analog TV or the set top box. This is because the distribution of digital content is increasing at a rapid rate, along with changes in broadcasting policy whereby analog broadcasting will be terminated in December 2012.
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