Korea Plans to Introduce Mobile Number Portability
By Kim Deok-hyun
Staff Reporter
Information and Communication Minister Lee Sang-chul on Wednesday said the
government would introduce wireless number portability for the current
second-generation (2G) phone network.
His remark is in contrast to the government¡¯s previous plan that mobile number
portability would go into effect with the introduction of third-generation (3G) network.
In a luncheon meeting with the chief executives of domestic telecom operators, Lee
unveiled the plan and also outlined the government¡¯s main telecom policy for the
remaining half of this year.
``The government will introduce phone number portability for local fixed-line telephone
from the first half of 2003 and for current cell phone services on a gradual basis,¡¯¡¯ Lee
said in a statement.
A participant in the meeting said each representative of the telecom companies showed
different responses to the government¡¯s revised plan.
Wireless phone number portability is a hot potato in the telecommunications industry
because it allows consumers to switch their mobile operators while keeping their phone
numbers.
With some 30 million mobile phone subscribers in South Korea, three mobile carriers _
SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom _ are fighting to retain their customers from
moving elsewhere.
At the end of June, SKT had some 16.46 million customers and KTF accounted for
around 10.3 million. LGT, the smallest competitor, had some 4.4 million subscribers.
Offering incentives such as bundled free calls and restaurant tickets, the three
companies have been locked in a tough competition in the nation¡¯s near-saturated
mobile phone service market.
Mobile carriers responded cautiously to the planned introduction of mobile number
portability. ``We don¡¯t know what the real ramifications of wireless number portability
will be,¡¯¡¯ said Lee Byong-moo, a spokesman at KTF.
However, from the consumers¡¯ point of view, it is good news. The mobile number
portability will make its easier for people to take advantage of the competitive deals
available and change their wireless supplier without changing their phone number.
Although no official statistics on the consumers¡¯ support for number portability is
available, a significant portion of mobile customers will change their carriers if they
don¡¯t have to lose their phone numbers, analysts agree.
Meanwhile, on July 15 the Federal Communications Commission, the national telecom
regulator of the U.S., granted mobile carriers an extra year before the introduction of
mobile number portability.
Number portability was once scheduled to take effect from this November, but the
FCC approved the one-year delay in line with the carriers¡¯ requests.
kdh@koreatimes.co.kr
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