The South Korean government wants two-thirds of all
households in the country to be on digitalnetworks within the next four years.
The ministry envisages digital homes where information
appliances, home appliances and internet-connected devices are
centrally controlled within the home and from outside the home via
PDAs.
The most recent national census, which was conducted in 2000,
counted 14.3 million households in the country.
The ministry said it would invest 2 trillion won ($1.7bn) with
the private sector towards the plan but did not specify the
breakdown of investment between the two sides.
South Korea already has one of the world's most advanced IT
network infrastructures.
The country had 10.8 million broadband Internet connections at
the end of March, according to ministry figures, and
third-generation mobile phone services offering connections of more
than 1Mbps have been commercially available since 2002.
The government is now working towards a national network of
wireless Lan hot spots.