Korea to Offer PTT Service in September
telecomskorea.com
Tuesday, 29 June 2004
Two out of three mobile carriers of Korea, LG Telecom and KTF, are preparing to roll out nationwide cell-phone walkie-talkie -- or "Push-to-Talk (PTT)" – service as early as in September.
The nation’s dominant carrier, SK Telecom is expected to offer the service within this year, as it is obliged to get approval of the Ministry of Information and Communication when introducing a new service.
KTF is confidant about a successful launch of service saying that it will cooperate with its sister company KT Powertel, which already provides the service. A high-ranking official of the mobile carrier said, ”Services provided by KT Powertel are targeted at business users while ours will become affordable for general users.”
An official of SK Telecom said, ”Although we are at the finishing stage of PTT technology development, we might launch the service a little later than competitors.”
Accordingly, mobile phone manufacturers, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Pantech & Curitel are preparing to produce walkie-talkie phones. In particular, Samsung is expected to incorporate walkie-talkie functionality to its PDA phone model, MITS-400.
Pantech & Curitel also works hard to introduce its version of walkie-talkie phones within September, but, officials of the cell phone maker reportedly said that the phones would come later than their competitors.
Meanwhile, Qualcomm, that has sought potentially lucrative business opportunity in PTT service market in Korea, seems to be left fruitlessly. A high-ranking official of a local mobile carrier said, ”Qualcomm’s PTT solution, Brew Chat, is not only costlier than others but also is not compatible with the nation’s business processes. Nobody uses it.”
Another official said, ”We won’t lag behind Qualcomm in Push-to-Talk business. Although the Qualcomm solution might be adopted abroad, it will face bumpy road in Korea.” (related article : Qualcomm's Royalty Issue in Korea )
An spokesperson of Qualcomm Korea said, ”It will take some time to roll out PTT service in Korea. We don’t have even one person in charge of Brew Chat service in this nation.”
By Seong-ju Lee |
