South Koreans love new CDMA wireless phones !
Korea October16 by SANG-HUN CHOE of The AP
At a neon-lit shop in Seoul's bustling Chongno district, Kim Kyong-sun buys her
second cellular telephone in six months.
"It's like a must-have ornament," the university student says. "You keep buying a
new model to keep up with the trend."
Millions of young customers like Kim are key to the success of a cutting-edge
digital wireless technology being deployed by South Korea's three
aggressive mobile carriers.
South Korea's CDMA2000 1X service offers an early glimpse into "third
generation," or 3G, wireless technology, which promises high-speed Internet
via cell phones.
While 3G requires high-capacity networks not yet built, the 1X service in South
Korea aspires to perform some of 3G's simpler stunts at slower
speeds, using the existing system with minor upgrades.
There are still spotty connections, as well as grainy images like those from an old
television.
But in subways and cozy cafes in Seoul, youngsters toting snazzy handsets peer
into their phone screens, downloading short video clips, games and
songs. They also check e-mails and stock prices, book tickets, locate restaurants
or read news highlights. And many are absorbed in text chatting.
"We are confident that the new service is taking off," said Pyo Hyun-myung, vice
president for planning and coordination at KTF, South Korea's
second-largest mobile operator. "To many Koreans, especially young people,
having a new model cell phone is a matter of prestige."
KTF, SK Telecom and LG Telecom recently bought a $1 billion government
license to build 3G wireless networks that can stream video and audio at
speeds of up to 2.4 megabits per second, promising cell phone users the Internet
speeds now limited primarily to desktop computers. But those
networks won't be operational until late 2002 or early 2003.
In the interim, the mobile carriers have upgraded their existing networks to support
1X video-on-demand phones at speeds of up to 144 kilobits per
second. In reality, though, speeds remain at 60 to 80 kbps, a little faster than a
dial-up modem.
In Europe, companies spent billions of dollars in a bidding war for 3G wireless
licenses, but they have been slow to develop phones and services. In
Japan, NTT DoCoMo rolled out limited 3G service on Oct. 1 in Tokyo only;
although fast, it lacks support for video clips and music downloads.
The South Korean carriers are hoping to fare better and consider their 1X service
a quick and cheap way to get consumers hooked on next-generation
services before the technology is actually available.
"For the carriers, the 1X service makes economic sense. You don't have to spend
much to upgrade for the 1X," said Lim Byeong-yong, vice president
for corporate strategy at LG Telecom.
Since introducing the 1X service last October, SK Telecom has converted 1
million of roughly 14 million subscribers to 1X phones. KTF and LG, both
of which began the service in May, have 210,000 1X subscribers combined.
Competition is intense, and the carriers have pushed down the prices. Once
$600, the Internet phones sell for $130 to $430, depending on options like
a color display or quality speaker.
"They don't supply the old models any more. Soon consumers won't have any
other option than to buy 1X phones," said Ham June-shik, a mobile
phone vendor in Seoul. "The old models go out of style so quickly."
In TV ads, movie and rock stars romp with flashy phones with color monitors,
holding them like a Nintendo to play games. The screens are large
enough to display 16 lines of text. A hot model comes with a detachable camera
that lets the user snap a color picture and send it to friends.
But Lim acknowledges the devices must evolve to have palm-size screens and
prices must go down further before full mobile Internet is available.
SK Telecom expects $281 million in revenues in its mobile Internet service this
year, or 5.4 percent of its expected total sales of $5.2 billion. With the
revenues from voice service leveling out at around $31 a month per subscriber,
the operators are determined to boost revenues from mobile Internet to
20 percent of their total sales by 2005. |
