A 3D television drive is being planned by the Korea Communications Commission, which aims of having television stations beam terrestrial 3D broadcasts sometime in 2010. KCC will be going to give out license in January next year for the trial services for land-based HD 3D broadcasting. One of the KCC official said, “Japan and Britain were first to test 3D television broadcasting through satellite networks, beaming programs for about an hour per day. However, we want to take it a step further, being the world’s first country to provide 3D television with HD picture quality through terrestrial networks.” “We are expecting interest from television stations, electronics makers and other members of the technology community. After we license a 3D television broadcaster in January, we expect the preparations to start in February, with 3D trial services beginning sometime between then and the second half of next year. The trial services will be vital for testing the picture quality of the 3D broadcasts, and also prepare the foundation for standardizing technologies.” While KCC is working out on its 3D endeavor, CJ Hello Vision and TU Media, a cable television company and a mobile TV operator respectively, are also planning to start trial 3D TV services by the end of 2009. “We have yet to decide what would be the right level of consumer prices for 3D television services. Providing VOD titles free at first than charging for them later would be an option for us,” said a CJ HelloVision official. This year, CJ HelloVision will be picking up 300 homes in Seoul and Busan, Korea to start testing its 3D VOD (video on demand) and aspire to spread out its 3D TV to 1000 homes by 2012. Planning to release a handset by the end of the year, too, is TU Media. It will support both its own satellite pay-television services and the free, terrestrial mobile television services capable of 3D video. Another television operator, Sky Life, is also in talks of getting 3D broadcasting, too next year. A 3D television service bandwagon indeed! Kim Jin-woong, a researcher from Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) said, “It remains to be seen whether 3D television will become a standard for consumer entertainment, or fizzle out as 3D movies did decades ago. If the industry finds a way to lower the prices for the required devices and also acquire more content, 3D television will have a chance to acquire staying power.” Source: koreatimes

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