ITV

Tag: Japan

  • Japan launches digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones

    Japan launches digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones

    MUMBAI: After South Korea, Japan has become the second Asian power to launch free-to-air digital TV for mobile phones through terrestrial digital broadcast system.

    Digital TV broadcasts for mobile phones equipped with special receivers began in Japan’s major urban areas on Saturday, following several months of test broadcasts.

    But the new service in Japan, which is free, will potentially reach the broadest market yet through the country’s terrestrial digital broadcast system, which relays images through the air via TV towers, not satellites.

    It also uses broadcasting air waves, rather than an Internet connection, to relay streaming video.

    Although South Korea has offered the service since the end of last year, Japan is a frontrunner in the new technology, popularly known as ‘One Seg,’ after ‘One Segment.’

    One Seg takes its name from the one frequency segment out of 13 allocated to terrestrial digital broadcasting that is reserved for mobile phones.

    Users with a TV tuner-equipped cell phones, car navigation systems and portable game players will be able to watch the broadcasts free of charge.

    If one considers how embedded mobiles are in Japanese life, the service has the potential to be the biggest of its kind in the world, by reaching more subscribers than in any other country.

    Handsets have been on the market in Japan for several weeks that are equipped with the service, which can also broadcast programmes onto laptop computers, high-end video-game machines and other terminals.

    Mobile operators have lined up agreements with television networks to develop the service. NTT DoCoMo has tied up with Nippon Television and Fuji Television. DoCoMo’s main rival, KDDI, has forged a partnership with TV Asahi.

    Kazunori Higuchi, a spokesman for NTT, describing how the service works, was quoted in Japan Times as saying: “A viewer is watching a drama and decides she likes the dress the lead actress is wearing. At the bottom of the screen is a link to an online shopping mall. She clicks on the link and buys the dress. Or maybe she just likes the show’s catchy theme song and downloads a ring tone of the opening bars.”

    One major drawback that may hold back the penetration of the service in Japan though, is that handsets with tuners are still scarce and expensive.

    Japan has 90 million mobile phone users who already play video games, download music files, exchange e-mail, read news, trade stocks, store digital photos and surf the Web.

  • Dentsu survey estimates economic impact in Japan from Fifa World Cup

    Dentsu survey estimates economic impact in Japan from Fifa World Cup

    MUMBAI: Just how huge soccer is in Japan can be gauged from this piece of news! Dentsu president Tateo Mataki has announced the results of an independent quantitative survey conducted by its Center For Consumer Studies (CCS) regarding the impact of the 2006 Fifa World Cup Germany to be held from 9 June to – 9 July, 2006 on Japan’s domestic consumer economy.

    In addition to further stimulating already buoyant sales of DVD recorders and thin-screen televisions, which are making deep inroads into the household market, the event is strongly expected to provide a broad-based economic impact in Japan across many areas of the economy including manufacture of parts and components, distribution and service industries.

    According to the survey estimates, the event will directly bolster household consumer expenditures in Japan by ¥ 224.1 billion ($ 1.95 billion), including ¥ 93.1 billion spent on such digital consumer appliances and services as thin-screen televisions, DVD recorders, personal computers, and subscription-based BS/CS broadcasting services. The impact on expenditures for food and beverage is estimated at ¥ 41.4 billion, while spending on related goods is expected to increase by ¥ 42.7 billion.

    If the Japanese national team were to make it through to the semi-finals or final, the excitement induced across the entire country would further magnify the economic impact. In such a case, the total economic impact would grow to ¥ 546.1 billion, or ¥ 70.2 billion more than otherwise.

    Although a direct comparison with this year’s tournament and other sporting events is not possible owing to the different host countries involved and changes in calculation methodology, Dentsu and Institutes For Social Engineering jointly produced estimates of the economic impact from the 2002 Fifa World Cup which was held in Korea and Japan.

    According to those estimates, domestic consumption was bolstered by ¥ 848 billion including ¥ 705 billion in household consumer expenditures. The total economic impact induced by tournament-related consumption was estimated at ¥ 1,864.0 billion in 2002.

  • HTMT to buy out Pacific Horizon’s 1.23 per cent stake in Hutch

    HTMT to buy out Pacific Horizon’s 1.23 per cent stake in Hutch

    MUMBAI: Hinduja TMT Ltd has announced that it has entered into a share purchase agreement with Pacific Horizon Ltd, a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, Japan for buying an effective 1.23 per cent stake in Hutchison Essar Ltd (Hutch).

    The agreement is for purchase of Sumitomo’s 100 per cent stake in Pacific Horizon, which currently holds 24.12 per cent of IndusInd Telecom Network Ltd (ITNL). In Hutch, ITNL currently holds a 5.11 per cent stake. This translates to Pacific Horizon holding an effective stake of 1.23 per cent in Hutch.

    HTMT, according to the agreement, is purchasing 50 per cent of Pacific Horizon up front while the remaining stake will be bought at a later date.

    With this acquisition, HTMT, together with its wholly owned subsidiary InNetwork Entertainment Ltd, will hold 91.54 per cent of ITNL. This corresponds to a 4.68 per cent effective stake in Hutch, the company told BSE.