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To: Drew Williams who wrote (24802)	3/23/1999 9:55:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

Holy Sh--> 03-24-99 PCS operators attack SK Telecom By Nam In-soo Staff reporter SK Telecom, the nation's largest cellular carrier, is being harshly attacked by the three PCS carriers for trying to exploit its almost "monopolistic" position. The personal communications service trio - KT Freetel, LG Telecom and Hansol PCS - also lashed out at the Ministry of Information and Communication for failing to create a level playing field for mobile carriers. "With its financial muscle, SK Telecom is aiming to destroy its competitors," the three PCS service providers said in a joint statement yesterday. "The distorted market structure is getting worse as the Ministry of Information and Communication has not properly addressed the situation," the carriers added. They said SK Telecom, which accounted for 42 percent of the market with 6.53 million subscribers in February, is firing marketing salvos "indiscriminately" to raise its market share to more than 50 percent. The PCS operators claim SK Telecom initiated the current "bleeding" competition among the five mobile firms by offering new subscribers long free calling time and generous subsidies for handset purchases. As the competition for more of the shrinking market-pie intensifies, the ministry forced them to agree to eliminate the mandatory subscription period by April and drastically reduce the subsidies. The Fair Trade Commission also launched a probe into the five mobile firms to determine if they are engaged in unfair marketing practices, including false advertising. "However, with the deadline fast approaching, the Ministry of Information and Communication has yet to fix a guideline for handset subsidies by telecom firms," said a KT Freetel spokesman. He insisted the PCS carriers be allowed to pay at least 70,000 won more than SK Telecom in subsidies to compete with the market leader on an equal footing. "If the government really wants to make a level playing field, it must regulate the market leader to prevent a monopoly," said the official. In response, a ministry official said it plans to allow for a subsidy difference of around 50,000 won between SK Telecom and the other companies. He added a guideline is due this weekend. SK Telecom took offense to the PCS carriers' offensive. "Since the PCS operators joined the mobile market in October 1997, our market share has dropped from 66 percent to around 40 percent. And now they preposterously calling us a predator," said an SK Telecom official. "They simply want to get more out of the road that we have paved for more than a decade," he added. The PCS carries, however, also accused SK Telecom opposing the introduction of the IS95-B mobile standard, which will enable the transfer of moving pictures and data at the rate of 56Kbps. The current IS95-A standard limits the data rate to 14.4Kbps. While the PCS firms plan to adopt the new standard in the second half of this year, SKT wants to leapfrog it and move directly to IMT-2000, the third-generation mobile communications system. "SK Telecom is lobbying the government and legislature against the new mobile standard, saying that it is nothing but another redundant telecom investment," said a Hansol PCS official. Due to technical differences between the PCS system and the cellular one, SK Telecom will need several billions of won to adopt IS95-B standard, he said But it will only cost a PCS carrier about 3 billion won, he added.