Pressemitteilungen

The Ministry of Information and Communication of the Republic of Korea (MIC) and the Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien (BLM) have agreed on a close cooperation regarding Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) for the years to come. The Minister of Information and Communication of the Republic of Korea, Ph D. Dae-Je Chin, and the President of the Bayerische Landeszentrale für neue Medien, Prof. Dr. Wolf-Dieter Ring, have therefore signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Munich. By this, both parties commit themselves to closely cooperate in DMB pilot projects and trial services. Apart from an intensive exchange of information the mutual promotion of DMB-services is planned, e.g. in Regensburg, the DMB trial service on the occasion of the 2006 World Championchip in Munich and further projects. In this context, an agreement between the Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT) and the Korean Electronics and Telecommunications Research Instiute (ETRI) was also signed.
For several months now the BLM has maintained intensive contact concerning Digital Multimedia Broadcasting with the Korean Ministry of Information and Communication as well as the Research Institute ETRI. In Korea, DMB is an already approved technology, based on the standard DAB-EUREKA 147, enabling radio-, television- or vido-services and data-services on mobile devices.
In the meantime the BLM has received more than 70 applications for the pilot project planned in Regensburg from media companies as well as the sector of industry, research and development from 9 different countries. Due to the important European interest the pilot project in Regensburg shall be organised together with further DMB-projects. At the moment, a project during the 2006 World Championship in Munich, a crossborder--Project in the Bodensee region including Austria and Switzerland as well as a further project with South Tyrol (Northern Italy) are planned. All projects are to apply for the European CELITC-programme in the context of the EUREKA funding programme. The 24 months programmes aim at a fast and consumer-friendly market introduction of DMB in Germany and Europe. The projects are effectively supported by the Bavarian government, especially by the Head of the Bavarian State Chancellery and Minister of Media, Erwin Huber.
In his statement, the President of the BLM, Prof. Dr. Ring, emphasised the importance of an international cooperation regarding digitalisation. "We hope that the agreement between the Ministry of Information and Communication of the Republic of Korea and BLM will lead to further cooperations and joint ventures between Bavarian, German and Korean companies. Companies and future users will benefit from this."
Minister Dae-Je Chin made it clear that the DMB-technology based on European DAB-EUREKA-technology should be available to all device manufacturers in Germany and Europe. Initiated by the pilot project in Bavaria, it was the Minister's sincere wish to see DMB installed all over Europe. Besides the many advantages in the respect of economics of infrastructure there would be many other new opportunities for new applications for DMB. In the Minister's view DMB should not only be applied to mobile tv and radio usage but also to new applications, e.g. for education and security systems, especially hazard warning systems.