It sounds like the Korean carriers are trying to work around the lack of subsidies....
chosun.com
Telecoms Offer 'Mileage Points' in War for Subscribers
The price war among the telecommunication service providers has now entered the second phase. This time around, as telecommunication service providers are no longer allowed to provide subsidies for mobile phone buyers or distribution agents as they have done in the first phase of the price war during the first half of this year, they are making use of offering mileage points or bonus points to mobile phone users, which can be used for various purposes including buying new mobile phones and concentrating on developing low-priced mobile phones to entice more people to replace old mobile phones with new phones.
It is reported that SK and Shinsegi Telecom, which have been recently been freed from the restriction put on them by the Fair Trade Commission to reduce their combined market share since their merger earlier, are planning to once again start marketing from September this year by introducing a so-called "mobile settlement card system" to reclaim their market share.
In the same regard, LG Telecom plans to introduce new mobile phones, which are priced 30 to 40 percent lower than existing mobile phones to increase its market share.
It is reported that KTF also plans to make use of the program, in which the company will replace old mobiles phone for new mobile phones and give discounts to its customers.
SK and Shinsegi Telecom reportedly jacked up their market share from 49.75% in June to 50.39% as of August 19th, after they were released form the FTC restriction.
KTF's market share dropped from 34.47 percent to 34.06 percent, and the market share of LG Telecom from 15.78 percent to 15.55 percent during the same period.
It is reported that the chance for LG Telecom, which is the smallest of the three major players to come out a winner, is high after the second phase price war. The reason being, the company's next generation CDMA mobile phones, which will be introduced soon, will be priced lower by 30 to 40 percent than their competitors.
It is reported that the company has in secrecy carried out what the company refers to as C-project from six months ago to develop low-priced high-tech mobile phones.
(Cho Hyung-rae, hrcho@chosun.com) |
