Korea proposes digital crisis alert

Addressing Asian countries, some of which were hit by the recent tsunami, the Korean government suggested that its terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting, or T-DMB, system be used for disaster warnings. At the Asia-Pacific meeting of the World Radio-communication Conference, which began on Sunday in Bangkok and ends this week, the Information Ministry gave a presentation on using its newly-developed mobile broadcasting technology for national emergencies. Until now, most disaster warnings are made through conventional communication channels, such as television, radio or telephone. However, this system may not be efficient because of restricted capacities of concurrent transmissions; for instance phone lines may not be able to support a sudden jump in phone calls, as was the case after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks in the United States. Also, people do not always have their TV sets or radios on and therefore may miss important warnings. A disaster warning system based on T-DMB, however, enables warning messages to be sent to anyone, regardless of time, location, and the amount of information that has to be transmitted ― assuming, of course, that they own high-tech personal gadgets. For instance, if the government releases a warning, the information will be sent to all mobile devices such as cellular phones, in-car terminals, and personal digital assistants. An alarm can even turn on the power for devices that are turned off. The system requires three main constitutions: a control center installed at government offices, a broadcasting station or stations that can transmit the warning information, and some form of receiving gadget, owned by individuals. A merit of the T-DMB is that countries that adapt the service can use it for various mobile broadcasting services in normal situations. Also, T-DMB does not require setting up additional facilities: it can be installed on existing broadcasting networks and requires low transmitting power. Korea plans to launch commercial T-DMB services later this year and is urging its adoption as the global standard. by Wohn Dong-hee