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
2000.11.01
koreaherald.co.kr |
