Lord Sainsbury of Turville

UK/ KOREA FUTURE MOBILE EVOLUTION FORUM

The UK Government believes that science and innovation is crucial to wealth creation and the future success of the UK economy, and we are, therefore, investing heavily both in science and knowledge transfer. To quote the Prime Minister, we want the UK to be one of the best places in the world for science and innovation.

We also believe that if we are to stay at the leading edge of science and innovation we need to collaborate internationally with the best researchers and companies around the world.

We have great admiration for what you have achieved in Korea in recent years, and I am delighted that recently we have seen a number of extremely valuable collaborations between UK and Korean organisations. Important examples are the collaborative venture between the Cavendish Laboratory and the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, in the fields of Nanoelectronics, Spintronics, Biological Physics and Optoelectronics, and the signing at the end of last year of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute in Korea and the University of Cambridge to establish a Research and Development complex in Korea. Other examples are the MOUs between the Korean Brain Research Centre and the Universities of Sheffield, Bristol and Manchester in the field of neuroscience, and that on wind energy between the Korea Institute of Energy research and CCLRC.

I am, therefore, very pleased to be speaking at this event which aims to build on the existing exchange of experience, collaboration and partnership between the UK and Korea, and to capitalise on both countries’ history of pioneering innovation in wireless and broadcasting technologies.

I am particularly pleased that the topics for today’s Forum focus on personal broadcasting and fixed mobile convergence. These have the potential to bring together the world’s two foremost consumer technologies - television and mobile telephony - in new ways that will be appealing to the consumer and enable our broadcasting and telecommunications industries to prosper in the digital age.

Mobile TV is already recognised by many stakeholders as one of three primary areas for development. High Definition TV (HDTV) and Internet Protocol TV (IPTV) are the others. Many countries have initiated tests or soft launched various technologies built on either mobile telecoms or dual network, that’s mobile telecoms and broadcast infrastructures.

In the UK a number of significant mobile television trials and pilots have commenced. These include the 3rd generation telecoms-based offerings from such as Orange on Nokia mobile phones, and the recent Vodafone and Sky-Sports Soccer service announced on 12 August.

Combined network propositions are being explored, such as BT’s Lifetime Digital Audio Broadcasting based pilot with Virgin Mobile and the Digital Video Broadcast to Handheld device trial by Arquiva, O2 and Nokia, in Oxford.

Each offers the user “TV on the move” through a handheld device as do other potential solutions that combine fixed wireless broadband, with handheld storage devices.

Significant consumer demand and business cases for any of these technologies are yet to be proven. Indeed recent reports advise that consumers are confused by and are rejecting complicated multifunctional devices.

Consumers interested in the mobile TV concept will be largely unconcerned about the technology platforms – but what they will want to focus on that which delivers the most attractive TV content, in a user friendly way and at an affordable price.

There is a trial of personal multimedia broadcasting in the UK, using the DVB-H standard, so there will be a great deal of comparable information on which to base decisions on the most appropriate technology to deploy.

Korea is clearly at the forefront of the sector with commercial, satellite-based DMB services already in place and terrestrial DMB alternatives just round the corner. It can play an important role in informing UK stakeholders of compelling technical and consumer-based factors.

I also note that British companies are playing an important role in developing the market in Korea. While Frontier Silicon is actively producing new chipsets to help cultivate DMB products, Radioscape’s software-based DMB solutions are being used by Korean broadcasters to evaluate reception conditions all over the country too.

The UK is well placed to build on its status as a leading market for Digital TV, Digital Audio Broadcast, radio, mobile telephony and broadband. It can become a primary arena for mobile television too - whichever platform and technologies are utilised. The UK adopts a market driven, open standards approach and remains platform and technology neutral.

Development of the market and compelling consumer propositions in the UK is set to challenge the industry and calls for new relations between broadcasters, telecoms companies and regulators, built around content access and digital rights management.

For some, the greater challenge is gaining access to radio spectrum - or at least understanding what is and is not available to license. Bands III and IV and L band all offer scope for mobile TV but are equally desirable for other consumer technologies.

Of course there is also the issue of attractive UHF spectrum becoming available once the UK Digital TV Switchover is completed. However, UK Spectrum release is inexorably linked to that of other countries. Next year’s Regional Radio Conference and the World Radio Conference in 2007 will inevitably be key events for many of us.

It is clear that - as with technology convergence - industry will need to work together to produce compelling solutions. This cooperation has started through trials such as those I mentioned earlier - and through UK groups such as the Digital TV Group and Mobile Data Association working together.

Following an inaugural UK Mobile TV Workshop instigated by the Digital TV Group and the Mobile Data Association and hosted by the Department of Trade & Industry on June 27th, a Mobile TV Task Force has been established which also includes the radio broadcasters and large manufacturers.

The UK government welcomes this - or any platform neutral vehicle – that allows those with interests in mobile TV to meet and develop appealing consumer propositions through which global trade and industry can grow.

Only by taking a global approach can we tap into the best ideas and cultivate desirable propositions. As a means of encouraging British companies to collaborate internationally, the DTI funds a Global Watch Service. This service provides companies with a wide range of support, to help them access innovative technologies and business practices overseas.

The DTI currently employs 21 International Technology Promoters covering information technology, electronics and communications, sustainability and the environment, life sciences and performance engineering.

We have coverage for the Asia Pacific region including Australasia, North America and Europe.

These specialists spend around 25 per cent of their time overseas identifying opportunities for technology collaboration and feeding this knowledge into their business networks.

Two of these specialists, Sarah Turner and Hong Hai Seeto, are here at the Forum today, and both are dedicated to building technology relations and technology partnerships between UK and Korea.

In the last year, Hong Hai Seeto has arranged over 148 one-to-one technology partnering meetings between British and Korean organisations. Sarah Turner has arranged 55 meetings and helped broker 11 technology – based collaborations. I hope you will take the opportunity to make contact with them during today’s forum or subsequently.

The team of International Technology Promoters has been very successful in helping British businesses to compete against the most dynamic economies of the world.

We want even more businesses to benefit from the support they can offer.

During the past 12 months the DTI has helped fund three missions to Korea covering the future of Radio Broadcasting, mobile telecom technology and wireless 4G. As a result of the Global Watch mission on Future Mobile Communications, in June 2004, collaboration between the Mobile Virtual Centre of Excellence and Korea’s Yonsei University was established with a view to arranging a series of inward and outward secondments of researchers.

Several Korean companies - including some here today - are industrial members of Mobile VCE benefiting from the best of the UK’s academic research in an industry-led structure together with other global players from Europe, America and Asia.

In June this year, a Global Watch mission went to Korea to investigate developments in digital and traditional radio broadcasting - and several potential areas for commercial collaboration were identified.

The Global Watch Service will continue to build on this success with a new mission to Korea planned this December focussing on Broadband.

The UK and Korea have a shared interest in strengthening our trade and investment relationship through promoting cooperation and collaboration between our companies, universities and research bodies. There are huge benefits to be gained by all of us.

I hope very much that joint events such as this Forum on the convergence of mobile broadcasting and broadband Internet will identify new areas where our key organisations can exchange views and collaborate on R&D.

I am sure that your discussions today will be highly productive and valuable and I hope that that they will not only strengthen existing relationships between Korea and the UK – but also create new ones, which will be equally as valuable as the ones that have gone before.