(By Peter Krasilovsky): South Koreans are the first to be able to view video on demand on their cell phones, although rates are high at $60 for 30 minutes, according to Seung Taik Yang, the country’s former Minister for Information and Communications.
Speaking October 17 at a University of San Diego Symposium in honor of Qualcomm Founder Irwin Jacobs, Yang said the universal use of Qualcomm’s CDMA standard in South Korea has made Cell VOD possible. The service has been available since last year.
Yang noted that the price per bit for VOD is actually provided at a 25 percent discount. “If it had been full price, the rate would have been $240″ per half hour.
Still, he says the price remains too high. “It’s been a problem,” he said. “Some (monthly) bills are upwards of $1,000″. When the price comes down to $2 to $3, he expects VOD to be commonly used for children’s programming and other applications.
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