South Korea’s leading TV manufacturer and internet provider are expected to clash over the burden-sharing of smart TVs. As KT, the nation’s largest fixed-line operator, plans to limit web access via smart TV applications, consumers using KT’s internet service who own Samsung’s smart TV products will be barred from using the product’s key functions.
KT announced Thursday that it will cut off internet access made by Samsung’s smart TV applications, starting Friday. Unlike regular TVs, smart TVs are internet-based TVs that use downloaded smart TV applications to provide contents. More than one million units of smart TVs have been sold in Korea. As KT is responsible for roughly half of the high-speed internet market, this measure is expected to disable the products’ core functions for roughly 500,000 smart TV users.
“Excessive electricity use can cause a wide scale blackout, as we have experienced in September last year. Likewise, over-burdening the internet inevitably hurts other users,” explained KT.
KT’s decision is intended to compel the smart TV manufacturers to share the costs of overloading the high-speed internet network, say experts. Internet providers KT, SK Broadband, and LG Uplus have been objecting to TV makers’ free-riding of the network, insisting these manufacturers chip in the costs of investing in upgrades.
[Written by Dong-in Lee - Samji Chung / edited by Soyoung Chung]
[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]
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