"KT SAT Signs Business Agreement with KBS for Korea's First Live Marine Broadcast"

Mugunghwa Satellite 5A Available for Live Viewing of KBS Broadcasts at Sea

Song Kyung-min, CEO of KT SAT (third from the right), and Han Chang-rok, Head of Programming at KBS (third from the left), signed a business agreement on the 24th to launch a marine live broadcast service.

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] KT SAT announced on the 24th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with KBS to launch Korea's first maritime live broadcasting service in July.

The maritime live broadcast service allows real-time live streaming to be viewed on ships sailing at sea using the Mugunghwa satellite. In particular, KT SAT plans to cooperate with KBS to broadcast KBS KOREA (currently KBS World24), the representative overseas TV channel for overseas Koreans, providing high-quality broadcasting services.

Although satellites are the only means of communication available at sea, bandwidth limitations have restricted real-time live streaming via the internet. To overcome these limitations, KT SAT utilizes the Maritime Beam of the Mugunghwa 5A satellite, specialized for ultra-high-speed maritime satellite communication, to directly provide real-time live broadcasts through its own satellite communication network.

The service coverage area is also extensive. Real-time live broadcasts can be viewed using satellite receivers on any ship in maritime areas not only in Asia but also in the Indian and Middle Eastern regions. To ensure stable service quality on global seas, KT SAT has been conducting pilot services on some ships since May last year.

Song Kyung-min, CEO of KT SAT, stated, “We will provide services so that live TV broadcasts can be viewed even in global maritime areas beyond the Korean Peninsula,” adding, “We will do our best to enhance the welfare of seafarers by strengthening connections between sea and land using satellite communication.”

Before the official launch of the service, KBS will completely revamp the KBS KOREA channel to supply high-quality broadcast programs. KT SAT plans to begin full-scale service launch in July using the revamped channel.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.