By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter

POSDATA said it will start Internet-protocol TV services (IPTV) in California in September, targeting some 1 million ethnic Koreans who live in the U.S. west coast region.

The firm said Thursday that it will set up a joint venture with Celrun, a set-top box maker, and Acanettv, a digital TV platform provider. The Internet TV station will be based in Los Angeles and will cover California.

The joint venture's initial capital is to be 10 billion won ($105 million). The firms did not give a breakdown of their investment but POSDATA said it will be the leader of the consortium. The name of the new company and its brand will be announced soon, it said.

It is another bold challenge for a Korean IT company to offer a services business on American soil, which have been unsuccessful in most cases. Most notably, telecom giant SK Telecom has struggled to sign up subscribers for its Helio mobile phone service in the United States for years.

To minimize the risk, POSDATA said it is targeting the large Korean population first. It is also waiting for local TV companies in California to join the consortium and share the opportunity as well as the financial burden.

``We need someone who can set up the sales and marketing network there, so we are talking with multiple firms for a partnership,'' a company spokesperson said.

California has the largest Korean expatriate community in the world aside from China, with some 340,000 legal and illegal residents living in Los Angeles and vicinity, according to the Korean embassy there.

There are several Korean-language cable TV channels in service but none of them provide a video-on-demand service of popular Korean TV programs, POSDATA said.

Korean dramas and entertainment shows will be the main items of the new IPTV service. Shopping, education, karaoke and games will come next, it said.

POSDATA is an Internet and network service subsidiary of Korea's largest steel maker POSCO. It has been diversifying its portfolio to various network equipment such as Mobile WiMax in recent years.

``We have the experience of doing content business such as animation and traffic information in Korea. We also have experience in building the IPTV system of Hanarotelecom. Based on these experiences and local marketing activities, we will try to dominate the market before others get in on the business,'' the firm said in a statement.

IPTV refers to paid TV services that use home broadband Internet lines to receive TV signals. It is gaining popularity in many nations, especially in Western Europe and Hong Kong as well as South Korea, since it offers video-on-demand movies and other advanced functions such as Web searching.

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr