Tom,
<< Eric L. (previous post) also thinks it was the governement's proposal to SKT not SKT's offer. Now where is one of those posts... >>
Here ... and there is darned good reason we all heard different things. We ALL heard correct. <g>
SK Telecom remains a mystery. They themselves are mute. Interpretation of whats happening is different from different sources.
It started here:
>> SK SUGGESTS COMPROMISE ADOPTING SYNCHRONOUS IMT-2000 STANDARD
2000/09/07(Thu) 17:56
Korea Times
211.169.240.72
SK Telecom, which had wanted to adopt asynchronous or WCDMA (wideband code division multiple access) mode as its IMT-2000 technology standard, suggested a compromise including the adoption of the synchronous or CDMA2000 standard, industry sources said yesterday.
The ministry, however, is reportedly reluctant to accept the proposal, believing it can be blamed for letting the company select standards freely according to market conditions and that equipment makers could be confused about the path of technology development, the sources said.
Then Bloomberg (9/8) says:
>> KOREA ASKS SK TELECOM TO USE QUALCOMM TECHNOLOGY
Seoul, Sept. 9 (Fri)
Bloomberg
Message 14354020
"Korea's Ministry of Information and Communication asked the country's largest mobile phone service provider, SK Telecom Co., to use technology from Qualcomm Inc., for new cellular services."
"The ministry asked SK Telecom to reverse its decision to go with an alternative standard and to try to commercially develop Qualcomm's CDMA2000 standard, the Maeil Business newspaper and other Korean dailies reported."
(Maeil Business Newspaper 9/9, p.9, www.mk.co.kr) <<
Anybody read Korean? The Maeil English site does not have the source story in English.
This is the Saturday link I referenced but couldn't find:
>> IMT-2000 APPROVAL RELAXED TO ENCOURAGE CDMA APPLICATION
09/09(Sat)17:48
DigitalChosun
Business
chosun.com
The Ministry of Information and Communication is reportedly considering ways to relax approval procedures for IMT-2000 licensing so that applicants, who must indicate a preferred technical standard at the time of application for licensing, can switch technical standards if necessary after their applications are approved. Industry observers say the point of such a move by the ministry is likely to convince one of the three major contenders for licensing, Korea Telecom, the SK Group and the LG Group, to opt for the synchronous CDMA-2000 standard which is currently in wide use both domestically and in the U.S., with the aim of momentarily appeasing local equipment manufacturers, who have already invested huge amounts of money into asynchronous technology. The other option, W-CDMA, which is asynchronous, is popular in Europe.
(Baek Kang-young, young100@chosun.com) <<
From a week earlier, this one is VERY interesting (especially last line).
>> SK TELECOM, GOVT STAND-OFF ON IMT-2000
09/03(Sun)17:56
DigitalChosun
Business
chosun.com
SK Telecom and the government have been in opposite corners on the issue of the technology standards to be set for the introduction of IMT-2000 to Korea next year. Korea's largest mobile phone service carrier has been moving ahead with development based on the European-standard W-CDMA asynchronous technology, despite government pressure to use synchronous CDMA 2000 technology, which is popular in the U.S. Korea Telecom, another prospective IMT-2000 operator, said it would employ synchronous technology only if SK Telecom were to do so. The government, which wants one of the three IMT-2000 operators it licenses to use synchronous CDMA 2000 technology, appears to be in a bind.
SK Telecom believes that with the Korean telecommunications market already saturated, it is crucial for it to advance into foreign countries such as China and Japan, and that to do so, licensing based on asynchronous technology is essential. The company has been developing a concept to create a Northeast Asia telecommunications bloc in partnership with Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo and China Mobile. SK Telecom is also hoping to discomfit Samsung Electronics, which, as the undisputed leader in the area of telecommunications equipment, has concentrated on synchronous CDMA technology.
The Ministry of Information and Communication (MOIC) has, however, been looking askance at SK Telecom's negotiations with NTT, as the technology used by DoCoMo is far more sophisticated than that of Korean firms and the ministry is worried that the Japanese firm would overpower local firms in the domestic market as Korean equipment manufacturers would be unable to compete. MOIC had originally planned to make a decision on the technology standard for IMT-2000 by the end of August, but has been unable to do so as top SK Telecom executives have not been responding to ministry proposals for CDMA technology.
Market analysts say only a major behind-the-scenes deal between the government and SK Telecom will bring the stand off to an end.
(Cho Hyung-rae, hrcho@chosun.com) <<
Also from Korea Times on same day as the article top of this message, is this one:
>> IMT-2000 Emerging Quickly on Horizon- Commercial Service to Begin in 2002
211.169.240.72
Excerpt:
For one thing, there is lingering dispute over which technology should be adopted for the 3G mobile communications service _ asynchronous, or W-CDMA (code division multiple access) which is the European standard, or synchronous, or CDMA2000 which is the American standard.
While the government, that it MIC, has said that it will allow the bidders to decide which technology they wish to adopt, it has made it clear time and time again that it prefers the CDMA2000 format. <<
And this from the Korea Herald (reported here) is the latest update to the saga:
koreaherald.co.kr
And so it goes ....
<< your # 3076 ... From reading it they seem to treat the IMT-2000 choice (which must be for new spectrum) differently than the current spectrum. >>
They absolutely do. This is the case for both KTF and SKT, in their 3G or 3G3 network evolution presentations on the CDG web site.
- Eric - |
