A screen capture of the official site of 2NE1, a Korean pop group, on YouTube. The popularity of K-Pop abroad has prompted local IT businesses to strengthen their video platforms.

By Yoon Ja-young

Internet companies as well as mobile carriers are looking to lead in video platforms as killer content for the smart era is the moving image. They are either acquiring or setting up video companies, as the related services will explosively expand with the adoption of the fourth generation (4G) long-term evolution (LTE) networks along with a plethora of mobile video devices such as smartphones and tablets.

KT, the country’s second largest mobile carrier, recently acquired Enswers, a video solutions company. It has a globally competitive video service platform, including a video search engine. Previously Enswers had acquired Soompi, the biggest community site in North America dedicated to hallyu, (the Korean wave) boasting over 6 million monthly visitors.

KT said that it would launch a video platform, where one can buy, store, manage and watch content, by using Enswers through cloud computing. It also aims to take the lead in the massive mainstream use of video content online and through mobile devices.

SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile carrier, launched Hoppin, a video service which enables one to enjoy content on diverse devices ranging from TVs to smartphones and tablets. SK Planet, its mobile platform business, invested in ViKi, a video platform business in the United States, with a plan to cooperate with contents businesses and prepare a global platform for hallyu content.

Broadcasting companies and mobile manufacturers are also seeking to launch video platform. MBC and SBS are setting up a joint venture to set up a video platform, but handset manufacturers have the advantage as their handsets are sold with applications preloaded.

Video, the killer contents of LTE

The introduction of LTE services accelerated investment in video platforms. SK Telecom and LG Uplus plan to complete a nationwide network by the first half of next year.

As they offer up to five times faster downloading than 3G, there will be a paradigm shift in mobile services from voice and text data to high definition video content.

Song Min-zeong, a researcher at KT Economic and Business Research Institute, cites “Shift to Video” as one of the key global media trends. She cites an estimate by an Australian communications company according to which mobile and video traffic will account for 83 percent of traffic in 2013.

Video platforms are regarded as the next growth engine by global giants as well. Google recently opened Google TV 2.0, and Microsoft presented a TV platform using Xbox games.

“As it has become easy to distribute TV and video content on mobile devices, there is a cross over in the value chain between Internet companies, media companies, telecommunications firms and handset manufacturers. Each of them is developing a mobile distribution business model for the content they have,” Song said.

Hallyu, catalyst of video services

Hallyu has also propelled local companies to eye video platforms. YouTube, the global video site operated by Google, has helped hallyu spread overseas. According to a survey of 9,115 Koreans and Japanese by YouTube, 85.5 percent of Koreans and 53.3 percent of Japanese said YouTube contributed to the expansion of hallyu. YouTube was selected as the channel where people around the world are most likely to see their first exposure to K-pop. Subsequently, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recently signed an agreement with Google to disseminate Korean culture and content. The partnership will lead to holding and supporting K-pop concerts and live broadcasts on YouTube.

Local IT companies seeking to go beyond the local market believe a video platform based on hallyu could give them a chance. With this in mind, Cyworld, a local social networking service, offers hallyu content to attract users overseas.