Group of gov't, business officials to visit N.K. for CDMA service
A delegation of government and business officials plans to visit North Korea sometime next month to discuss providing mobile telecommunications services to the communist country, a North Korean specialist said yesterday.
"Delegates from the Information and Communications Ministry and five communications companies will visit Pyongyang in April, at the latest, to discuss the introduction of code division multiple access (CDMA) services to Pyongyang and other forms of telecommunications cooperation with the (North's) Post and Telecommunications Ministry," Prof. Nam Sung-wook of Korea University's North Korean studies department said.
The five companies are Korea Telecom (KT), SK Telecom, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Curitel, he said.
"As the CDMA project will require about 600 billion won ($451.20 million) in Pyongayang alone, the five companies will create a consortium in order to prevent excessive or redundant investments should they advance into the North separately," Nam said.
"In order to introduce the CDMA service throughout metropolitan Pyongyang, 500 relay stations are needed. The setup of a station will cost 1.2 billion won on average," he said.
If the project gets underway, KT will establish wire networks, SK will design and establish wireless networks, and three other companies will provide cellular phones and other communications services, he said.
"The companies plan to introduce CDMA services in certain areas of the North Korean cities of Pyongyang and Nampo first in an initial stage and expand coverage gradually," he said.
In a related development, the North Korean government has been contacting South Korean companies behind the scenes since its leader Kim Jong-il instructed his cabinet to begin mobile telecommunications services in Pyongyang before April 15 this year.
Kim gave the order while visiting Shanghai in January last year. April 15 would have been the 90th birthday of his father, late North Korean President Kim Il-sung.
"The project should not be another version of the Mt. Geumgang tour project, which is currently deficit-ridden due to a failure to properly consider profitability. How to secure adequate revenue and collect service charges are key issues in pushing for the project," he said. (Yonhap)
2002.03.25
koreaherald.co.kr |
