“Annual Cost in Billions, Usage Rate Only 2%”

Joincheol Jo "DMB Disaster Broadcast Policy Must Be Fully Reconsidered"
Smartphone Usage Rate 98%... KCC Only Grants Cunning Reauthorization

Assemblyman Join Chul

Jo In-cheol, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea (Gwangju Seo-gu Gap), argued that the Korea Communications Commission should conduct a comprehensive review of the disaster broadcasting policy for DMB, which has a usage rate of only 2%.

Introduced in 2005, DMB once enjoyed great popularity, with up to 20 million users, as it allowed video viewing on the move. However, its usage rate plummeted to the 2% range last year as smartphones, YouTube, and OTT services gradually took over its place.

In particular, DMB, along with FM radio, is designated as a mandatory disaster broadcasting reception medium in shadow areas such as tunnels and underground. However, a reception environment survey found poor reception in about 3,400 out of 4,960 tunnels nationwide (68.4%).

The Korea Communications Commission supports installation costs of approximately 500 million to 1 billion KRW annually to improve disaster broadcasting reception environments, while private broadcasters reportedly bear annual costs ranging from 400 million to 5 billion KRW for operating and maintaining DMB relay facilities.

Despite the low usage rate, poor reception, and maintenance burdens, no DMB operator has ever failed the Korea Communications Commission’s reauthorization review in the past decade. In last year’s evaluation, although five DMB operators scored below the reauthorization threshold of 650 points, all received “conditional reauthorization.”

On the 27th, Representative Jo stated, “In a situation where smartphone usage reaches 98%, it is questionable whether DMB, which has almost no users and poor reception, should continue to exist. While safety can never be excessive, considering that DMB itself is a dying medium, there is a need to comprehensively review the DMB disaster broadcasting policy.”