Hanaro seeks cdma2000 license for IMT-2000 service
Without warning, a consortium led by Hanaro Telecom Inc. announced yesterday that it had returned to the competition for the IMT-2000 service and submitted a business plan to the Ministry of Information and Communication for a license for the U.S.-style code division multiple access, or cdma2000 mode.
An official of Hanaro said it was an autonomous decision by Korea IMT-2000 Consortium, composed of Hanaro and 36,000 public stockholders, in line with the government's late ultimatum that at least one of the three available third-generation mobile service licenses will be extended to an operator using the cdma2000 mode that the country was first to commercialize.
Other contenders - LG, Korea Telecom (KT), and SK Telecom (SKT) - all are vying for licenses using the W-CDMA (wideband-code division multiple access) mode, which is projected to take up 80 percent of the world market.
The official said the consortium did not want to see accumulated technology and personnel in the cdma2000 go to waste.
Hanaro has temporarily named the consortium Korea IMT-2000 Ltd., a name previously used by a former contender for IMT-2000 service license, consisting of Hanaro Telecom, Onse Telecom and hundreds of small and medium-size enterprises.
The Korea IMT-2000 consortium was dissolved late August and many of its members chose to join the other three consortiums.
Further, Hanaro argued that the cdma2000 operator should be given incentives to start commercial service six months to one year earlier than W-CDMA operators.
Hanaro said it will invite the nation's large and small firms, IT firms, ventures and a number of foreign telecom operators as stockholders while offering one million shares for public subscription.
The ISP also expressed a willingness to form a consortium with one of the three contenders for W-CDMA who is denied a license.
Hanaro said it plans to raise 3.1 trillion won for facility investments by 2006, 1.4 trillion of which would be raised through equity, 1.3 trillion won in loan and 466 billion won through its operational profits.
It remains to be seen how the government will handle Hanaro's application, however. The firm does not have experience in the mobile telecom business.
Meanwhile, the consortium led by SK Telecom (SKT) yesterday handed in its IMT-2000 business plans to the Ministry of Information and Communication, based on the W-CDMA mode as expected.
Of the 783 member firms, SKT is the main shareholder with a 48.6 percent, while POSCO and Shinsegi Telecom are also major shareholders with 12 percent and 5 percent each. The consortium also has 138 strategic shareholders, including Powercomm (4.9 percent), KBS (1 percent) and SBS (1 percent).
A SKT official said the consortium was drawn up in such a way as to increase synergy effects and nurture related industries.
He said the consortium, in particular, could expect maximum synergy effects in the fixed-line infrastructure with Powercomm as a strategic shareholder. Powercomm has the nation's largest fixed-line optical cable network.
SKT will start out with 300 billion won but will raise its capital to 1.5 trillion won by 2004.
The firm added that it would use 10 percent of its sales annually to develop fourth-generation technology and nurture related industries, including parts, handsets, contents and software.
LG and KT also handed in their business plans yesterday, both requesting he W-CDMA mode licenses.
By Kim Min-hee Staff reporter
koreaherald.co.kr
Ö¿Ö |
