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To: Bux who wrote (29911)	5/12/1999 2:56:00 PM
From: marginmike	Respond to of 152472

Korean sales at stanstil, any thoughts> Top/ National Korea Biz Info Tech Culture/ Sports Op-Ed/ Specials Dear Abby ÇØ¼³ÆÇ ¹ÙµÏ/ ¸¸È »ç¶÷/ ³¯¾¾ Æ÷Åä»ì·Õ ¸ÅÃ¼Á¾ÇÕ Shinsegi Pushes for Installment Financing 05/11(È) 19:57 By Yang Sung-jin Staff Reporter With mobile carriers grappling with plunging subscription rates, Shinsegi Telecomm has defied government opposition by adopting installment financing to lower the initial cost of purchasing handsets and thus boost sales. Shinsegi's move is expected to cause friction with the Ministry of Information and Communication, which opposes installment financing, fearing another round of excessive competition among carriers. Shinsegi's installment financing system allows users to pay 15,900-28,900 won per month over a period of one year instead of putting up the full 250,000-300,000 won. The installment financing will be applied only to credit card users, a move designed to placate a ministry which introduced sweeping measures last month aimed at cooling down the overheated mobile phone market. Shinsegi Telecomm placed advertisements promoting the installment financing on May 1 but suspended the plan when the ministry expressed its displeasure with the payment system. The mobile carrier resumed the advertising campaign from Monday and will not back off this time around, Shinsegi officials said. ''As far as legal issues are concerned, there is no law preventing us from adopting an installment financing system. The ministry's recommendation is not legally binding,'' Cho Sung-won, senior manager of Shinsegi Telecomm said. Given that mobile service providers are attracting an average of only 2,300 new subscribers per day, there are few other options but to boost the sluggish subscription rate, he said. According to Cho, there are roughly two promotional events that might help mobile carriers improve the situation. One is non-interest-bearing installment financing and the other prepaid cards. ''Since we are not going for the prepaid card business, it is natural to adopt installment financing,'' he explained. As Shinsegi Telecomm goes ahead with its own plan to promote installment financing, other carriers are likely to follow suit in an effort to jumpstart their sagging subscription rates. That might just irk the ministry further. Last month when mobile carriers asked for formal recognition of installment financing, the ministry rejected their plea, citing the possibility that carriers might wage another reckless marketing war. In a recent meeting with reporters, Vice Minister of Information and Communication Ahn Byong-yup confirmed the ministry's position against installment financing. With their hands tied by a wary government, mobile service providers remain uneasy about faltering subscription rates. The number of mobile phone users, which broke the 18-million barrier last month amid much fanfare, declined in April, signalling the onset of a cooling-off period in the aftermath of the earlier all-out marketing war between carriers. In recent days, the five domestic carriers combined have had less than 2,000 new subscribers sign up for their services per day, down from 46,000 in the first three months of this year. The carriers had engaged in a fierce marketing war aimed at attracting as many subscribers as possible before the much-dreaded abolition of the compulsory subscription system went into effect from April 1. (C) COPYRIGHT 1999 THE HANKOOKILBO