Depicted as
the ‘theme park for NextGen TV (ATSC 3.0)’ by South Korea’s Radio Promotion
Association (RAPA), the testbed for ATSC 3.0 will open its door to
international broadcasters, telecoms and broadcast equipment vendors this year
on South Korea’s Jeju Island.
After the Korean
Communications Commissions permitted RAPA the licence to experiment with the ATSC
3.0 standard, the test facility swiftly expanded its equipment to include
NextGen TV transmitters, RF equipment, single frequency network (SFN) test
sites and a diverse range of 3.0 consumer receivers. The association aims to
offer world-class test facilities to enable researchers to verify NextGen TV
service models, interoperability and advance the overall ATSC 3.0 ecosystem and
standards.
RAPA’s
communications manager, Jay Jeon, said in an announcement: “We want to
offer facilities to enable evaluation of future-oriented service models that
can be tested and verified.”
According to RAPA, the testbed will not charge for the usage
of the 3.0 facility on the island, and is inviting interested parties worldwide
to use its facilities. Jeon continued: “If you are a consumer electronics
company, even one that’s not a Korean company, that’s fine. If you are a
technology supplier not originally from Korea, the facility is open to you … If
you are involved in non-commercial R&D and want to test and verify
technology, we want you to use this facility.”
RAPA revealed that as of November last year, various mobile
telecoms service providers, TV broadcasters and South Electronics and
Telecommunications Research Institute have used its facilities.