MIC to give cdma2000 operator priority
koreaherald.co.kr
--Courtesy of Chips714 on TMF.-- Cooters
An operator to be selected for the cdma(code division multiple access)-2000 mobile phone business will be given priority over W-CDMA (wide division multiple access) operators in choosing an identification number, the Ministry of Information and Communication said yesterday.
The ministry also said the cdma2000 operator will be awarded a higher quality frequency range.
Minister of Information and Communication Ahn Byung-yub said in an interview with the Yonhap News Agency that these measures were deemed necessary for a balanced development of the two competing modes for IMT-2000.
"However, incentives for a cdma2000 operator do not include waiving 1 trillion won in contribution fees to the government," Ahn said, adding the government will draw up a comprehensive plan for the growth of two technologies during this month.
The ministry measures are seen as part of the government's efforts to find an IMT-2000 operator based on cdma2000, which Korea was first to commercialize but is fast losing popularity among telecom operators, because of its limited global roaming capacity.
W-CDMA is the preferred mode among telecom operators because it is projected to obtain 80 percent of the world's IMT-2000 market.
While the government has found two W-CDMA operators, Korea Telecom and SK Telecom, the slot for a cdma2000 operator remains untaken.
Under the government plan, a cdma2000 operator will have the first say in choosing the operation identification number in the telephone number for IMT-2000, which is composed of 11 numbers in the following order: 010 (service identification number)-N (operator identification number) and xxx-xxxx (subscriber number).
Of frequency ranges that have been earmarked for IMT-2000 service are - 1920-1980 MHz and 2110-2170MHz - the cdma2000 operator will be allotted a higher quality range.
Ahn said the ministry will subsidize 140 billion won toward the development of IMT-2000 equipment and handsets this year, while earmarking 58.7 billion won until 2003 for technology development standardization.
Regarding Qualcomm's recent indication that it may participate in the nation's IMT-2000 business, Ahn said he considered the U.S. company's move to be positive in an age of "unlimited competition."
"It was Qualcomm that approached the ministry first," Ahn said.
On Tuesday, the U.S. mobile telecom giant, the original developer of cdma2000 technology, expressed its intention to join Korea's IMT-2000 market, possibly in the form of stake participation, as well as lending technical assistance.
Furthermore, Ahn said the ministry will actively promote digitalization of existing off-line industries, such as medicine, education and finances, as well as introduction of B2B in the manufacturing sector.
Meanwhile, Ahn expressed the ministry's strong desire nurture information technology specialists. "We plan to nurture 200,000 information technology specialists by 2005," Ahn said. He also said that a graduate school for software development will be established at Korea Information & Communication College this year.
The ministry will also donate to high schools and colleges 30 billion won worth of state-of-art information technology facilities this year, Ahn said.
By Kim Min-hee Staff reporter
2001.01.12 |
