Nam Hyun-woo has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2013, mostly covering business and politics. He currently belongs to the Business Desk where he covers topics such as emerging tech, AI, ICT and Korea's chaebol community. Prior to joining the team, he was the paper's correspondent for the presidential office of Korea during the Yoon Suk Yeol and Moon Jae-in administrations.
Korean tech selected as Brazil’s next-gen broadcasting standard
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, front row second from right, signs a landmark Presidential Decree establishing the ATSC 3.0-based DTV+ system as the country’s television format of the future in Brasilia, Brazil, Aug. 27. Courtesy of ATSC
By Nam Hyun-woo
A broadcasting system utilizing Korean technology was chosen as Brazil’s next-generation broadcasting standard, paving the way for Korean companies to boost their export competitiveness in the South American market, the ICT ministry said Friday.
According to the ministry, Brazil has recently adopted the DTV+ system, a next-generation broadcasting standard based on the U.S. Advanced Television Systems Committee’s (ATSC) ATSC 3.0.
ATSC 3.0 uses the government-funded Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI)’s technologies, including multi-input multi-output and layered division multiplexing. The two technologies are designed to efficiently deliver data over limited spectrum, playing a crucial role in determining the hardware used to receive broadcasts on viewers’ TVs.
Brazil is one of the biggest broadcast media markets in the world, with a terrestrial broadcasting direct reception rate that reaches 73 percent. When the country adopted digital broadcasting in 2006, it chose the Japanese ISDB-T standard, and was later joined by Argentina and other South American countries, limiting the entry of Korean companies into the region.
As ATSC 3.0 was selected as the core technology for Brazil’s broadcasting standard moving forward, it will serve as an opportunity for Korean companies to gain a stronger foothold in the South American market.
The ministry said Brazil is preparing ATSC 3.0-based broadcasting and other service models in anticipation for the 2026 World Cup, and this is expected to create new chances for Korean companies to commercialize follow-up technologies. TV set makers such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics can also benefit from growing demand for TVs that support the new broadcasting standard.
“The selection is the result of government R&D (research and development) efforts that went beyond technology development to achieve successful commercialization, and it will be a good opportunity for Korean companies to preoccupy related markets,” Second Vice Minister of Science and ICT Ryu Je-myung said.
“The government will spare no effort to develop advanced technologies that can compete in the global market and cooperate with other countries to drive domestic technologies to be commercialized.”