When Will Asynchronous Service Commercialization Begin (in Korea)?
By Cho, Shi-ryong
Tuesday, May 29, 2001
The public is wondering when the asynchronous IMT 2000 commercial service will begin. Business licenses were issued for the introduction of the service in May 2002. Officials maintain that, "There are no technical problems," to questions raised by the Ministry of Information & Communication and ETRI researchers, regarding a commercial schedule, but the actual implementation of a commercial service is becoming an issue attracting considerable interest.
* Government's Forecast
Minister Yang, Seungtaek, an expert in communication technologies, predicts that the service will not be available until the end of 2002. At a series of meeting with reporters, he expressed his opinion that, "The aynchronous IMT 2000 service will be difficult to implement by June next year, even if we only use technically proven foreign equipment." He anticipates that considering the reliability of the technology it will only be available at the end of next year or early 2003.
ETRI, proceeding asynchronous IMT 2000 but following the synchronous, also shared the same view. ETRI IMT 2000 Development Center chief, Chae, Jongsuk, explained that, "Aside from the domestic development progress, the lack of reliability of asynchronous IMT 2000 technology is the biggest problem. To date, the international standard underlying W-CDMA technology is complemented and revised every 3 months."
* Progress Status at Home & Abroad
As if reflecting this problem, development in Britain and Japan, two strong proponents of W-CDMA IMT 2000, is slowing down. In the case of NTT Tokomo, which was to begin commercial services in May, it announced that it would carry out a limited pilot service for 4000 people before it begins its commercial service at around the end of October. Even so, some argue that even this remains to be seen.
Furthermore, although the system adopted by FOMA Tokomo is based on W-CDMA technology, its use of the pre-version up standard means that there are some similarities with the 3GPP standard. Mangs Telecom, a BT affiliate, which competed with NTT Tokomo for provision of the commercial service, postponed its original plan to begin a small-scale service around the middle of this year.
In case of Korea, KT I COM, a KT affiliate, accepted business proposal applications from equipment manufacturers at home and abroad and announced its plan to conduct BMT tests by September.
* Reliability of Domestic Equipment is the Key
As for the possible delay of a W-CDMA commercial service by the government and ETRI, KT I COM stated that, "The development progress of domestic firms will be the key to initiating a W-CDMA commercial service."
And as to the unresolved matter regarding the a suitable W-CDMA standard, it explained that, "An ATM-based 3GPP-Re199 standard was already completed at the end of last year. Therefore, if we use foreign equipment it is even possible to initiate commercial services immediately."
KT I COM said that, "Currently, the IP network-based Re14 standard, as well as the All IP network Re15 standard are under scrutiny, but this technology can be upgraded to the 3GPP-Re199 standard that IT I COM is already aiming for without any technical problems."
A senior official at KT I com said, "KT I COM sees system reliability of domestic firms as the biggest issue effecting efficient service support that is necessary in the process of providing commercial service. If the development of equipment does not speed up, pure commercial services will have to be delayed."
He forecasts that, "Currently, LG Electronics has expressed confidence in developing a commercial service during the latter half of this year, and if that proceeds as scheduled, providing commercial service will be no problem in May 2002 - in time for World Cup.
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