1xevdo goes comercial in Korea
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SK Telecom Seeks to Obtain Greater Radio Spectrum
By Kim Deok-hyun
Staff Reporter
SK Telecom, the top mobile carrier in South Korea, said Monday that it launched the
commercial operation of their next-generation mobile phone service in Seoul.
The commercial-run of new cell phone service, which is based on CDMA2000 1X
EV-DO (evolution data optimized) technology, promises to relay video and will
eventually allow music downloads at speeds of 40 times faster than current mobile
phones, the company said in a statement.
But, mobile handsets are unavailable for the upgraded version of the 1X service, due to
the inability of cell phone manufacturers.
SK Telecom officials demonstrated the service using a computer-card model for data
transmission, but the first impression was not as impressive as anticipated.
``We plan to introduce a pair of handsets fit for the 1X EV-DO network in the middle
of April,'' said Ko Chang-kook, a spokesman at SK Telecom.
In May, the top mobile carrier also put up for sale futuristic phones that enables
customers to watch video-on-demand and make a video calls, Ko said.
Early this year, SK Telecom began a trial operation of the 1X EV-DO network,
claiming data delivery speed of 2.4 megabits per second, in Inchon and vicinity.
SK Telecom already began to build the 1X EV-DO network in 26 cities across the
country, including 10 venues for the 2002 World Cup.
``After building the network in the middle of March, and following a one- month period
of optimization procedures for the new service, we plan a nationwide launch from late
April,'' Ko said.
The 1X EV-DO network has the right to call itself third-generation (3G) mobile
telephony from the International Telecommunications Union, a multi- national group of
mobile phone operators.
But, SK Telecom's approach to the 1X EV-DO service drew protests from LG
Telecom.
LG Telecom won the final 3G license last August to operate a next- generation mobile
service, based on Qualcomm's CDMA2000 technology, while SK Telecom was
awarded a license based on the Wideband-CDMA (WCDMA) standard.
Because of the growing uncertainty over WCDMA, 3G businesses, and massive
investment costs, SK Telecom is reluctant to launch the service, focusing instead on
CDMA2000 technology.
kdh@koreatimes.co.kr
ÀԷ½ð£ 2002/02/26 18:10
hankooki.com
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"..Because of the growing uncertainty over WCDMA.."
It's a pity that SK can't upgrade from do's 2.4mbs performance to wCDMA's 64-384kbs prospects...
<ggg> |
