[Report] Cable TV Industry Meets ICT Technology... Challenge of Wi-Fi 6E

KCTV Jeju Wi-Fi 6E·IPTV Transmission Demonstration
CEO Gong Dae-in: "An Inevitable Choice for Competitiveness...
Will Open to Third-Party Operators to Grow the Platform"

Park Yoon-gyu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT (third from the left), and representatives of the cable TV industry are observing the Wi-Fi 6E demonstration and IPTV broadcast transmission site at the KCTV Jeju Broadcasting headquarters located in Yeondong, Jeju City, Jeju Province on the 19th. Photo by Cha Min-young.

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] "As you can see, the performance of Wi-Fi 6E surpasses 5G and is confirmed to be the most excellent."

On the morning of the 19th, at the headquarters of KCTV Jeju Broadcasting located in Yeon-dong, Jeju City, Jeju Province, a performance comparison between Wi-Fi 6E and other wireless communication services was conducted. Wi-Fi 6E is the most advanced Wi-Fi technology in the current era, utilizing the 6GHz unlicensed frequency band. Indoor measurement results showed that Wi-Fi 6E's download speed approached 1350Mbps, significantly outperforming both 5G and Wi-Fi 6 (below 750Mbps).

The on-site demonstration, held in the presence of Park Yoon-kyu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, and representatives from the cable TV industry, was arranged to observe the progress of new business initiatives by KCTV Jeju Broadcasting. This came at a time when the need for developing regionally specialized information and communication technology (ICT) projects has increased, drawing attention to the new challenges faced by local cable broadcasters.

KCTV Jeju Broadcasting plans to develop 'WAKE UF,' a public Wi-Fi-based platform specialized for Jeju Island, based on Wi-Fi 6E technology. Lee Shin, Director of Future Strategy at KCTV Jeju Broadcasting, stated, "Compared to 5G mobile communication, it can deliver faster speeds in certain areas and allow for more affordable data usage." He added, "Unlike general public Wi-Fi concentrated in tourist areas, we will install it mainly in densely populated residential areas such as Nohyeong-dong, Yeon-dong, and Ido 2-dong to enhance convenience." They also plan to add Jeju-specialized content to captivate tourists and support marketing for small business owners. Cable TV company representatives observing the demonstration showed interest by recording the event on their smartphones. Lee Han-oh, CEO of Geumgang Broadcasting, also commented, "Jeju Broadcasting's transformed appearance was inspiring and exemplary, and I felt it represents the path we should take."

Park Yoon-kyu, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT (second from the left), and representatives of the cable TV industry are observing the Wi-Fi 6E demonstration and IPTV broadcast transmission site at the KCTV Jeju Broadcasting headquarters located in Yeon-dong, Jeju City, Jeju Province on the 19th.

The initial motivation for planning the Wi-Fi 6E project stemmed from the urgent need for a business model (BM) to compete with other companies such as IPTV providers. Gong Dae-in, CEO of KCTV Jeju Broadcasting, said, "To counter bundled product promotions, we could not avoid implementing a Wi-Fi (platform)." He continued, "Secondly, although we currently have a paid Wi-Fi model, the service prices are around 3,000 to 5,000 KRW, which does not even cover costs, so we thought of creating a platform based on public Wi-Fi."

CEO Gong emphasized, "Our Wi-Fi connects zones within the city to form blocks, a kind of cluster, allowing continuous use with a single authentication." He added, "Going forward, we plan to link with small business owners and open the platform to third-party operators to create secondary and tertiary additional revenue models."

Meanwhile, the demonstration also introduced the broadcasting transmission process using an Internet Protocol (IP) network. Previously, KCTV Jeju Broadcasting had been conducting a pilot broadcast to 2,000 households since last month, being the first cable TV to use IP network-based broadcasting. This became possible after the Ministry of Science and ICT allowed cable TV to use IP transmission methods for broadcasting services in July last year, removing technical barriers. Cable TV had been required to use radio frequency (RF) transmission methods, but with the ability to operate IP networks, their operational scope has expanded.

Kang Dong-woo, Technical Director of KCTV Jeju Broadcasting, introduced IPTV. The broadcast home screen, similar yet different from conventional IPTV, displayed detailed menus showing weather, flight information, and tourism information. The Haevichi Hotel in Jeju was featured as a case, providing customized information for each hotel. Voice recognition based on Google Assistant enabled movie video-on-demand (VOD) and OTT viewing simultaneously, broadening customer choices. Plans to incorporate cloud gaming are also underway.