The Posts and Telecommunications Ministry plans to grant approval to 18 of the 41 companies and groups that applied for licenses to begin next-generation interactive digital broadcasting services via communications satellites, ministry officials said Thursday.
The Ministry will finalize the selection of qualified broadcasters after the Radio Regulatory Council -- an advisory panel to the telecommunications minister -- endorses the ministry proposal at a meeting slated for Monday, the officials said.
The new service is scheduled to begin in the second half of next year.
The chosen 18 are likely to include Japan MediArk Co. -- the joint venture in which K.K. Kyodo News, Jiji Press Ltd. and other concerns put up capital -- Nippon BS Broadcasting Corp., which is owned by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., NTT DoCoMo Inc. and 34 other firms, they said.
Others likely to get licenses will include some Tokyo-based terrestrial television broadcasters.
The projected CS services will feature two-way interactive data transmission to allow viewers to receive specific data-related services, and will offer a broad range of content.
Criteria used in selecting the license recipients included whether applicants have the relevant knowhow and whether they have a track record of offering similar services, they added.