Battle between 3G Network and Wi-Fi :: 2011/02/02 13:50
As the adoption rate of smartphone has drastically increased since the last year, the two major mobile operators, including SK Telecom and KT, have come up with various measures to deal with the situations. Interestingly, two companies are going separate ways.
In order to handle the sudden demand of mobile data traffic, KT concentrates on Wi-Fi network. Comparing their Wi-Fi network coverage with SKT’s Wi-Fi Coverage through TV commercials, KT promotes their superior Wi-Fi network and tries to appeal to potential customers who have plans to buy smartphones. Actually, the number of KT’s national Wi-Fi hotspots is 30,000, while SKT has only 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots. In my opinion, this strategy comes from KT’s inherent position, the first Korean fixed telecommunication operator. KT has a wide coverage of fixed broadband network and is able to install Wi-Fi hotspots anywhere more easily rather than competitors.
On the other hand, SKT focuses on 3G Network to handle the increasing mobile data traffic. According to its recent announcement, SK Telecom reinforced their 3G data network by expanding their frequency assignments from 4FA to 6FA and allotted 3FA into mobile data services. Additionally, SK Telecom announced they will commercialize LTE (3.9G) network in the incoming July. Even after SK Telecom decided that they would concentrate on 3G network, they have also tried to strengthen their Wi-Fi network. Until 2009, SK Telecom’s Wi-Fi network was very weak, but they have built 10,000 Wi-Fi hotspots and have an additional plan to increase the hotspots by 45,000 in 2011.
Nobody knows whether which operator’s strategy is better, but I think smartphone users will eventually depend on mobile network rather than Wi-Fi network. If we only use our smartphone indoor, Wi-Fi network would be sufficient for our smartphone usages. However, we have many applications which we usually use on street. For instance, when I wait for a bus on street, I use an application which shows the estimated time of bus arrival. In order to use this kind of services, I cannot find any active Wi-Fi hotspot.
In 2010, the total number of smartphone subscribers was 7 million, and the number will be expected to reach to 20 million in 2010. Eventually, the data traffic will also increase drastically. 2011 will be the new beginning year to prove which player’s strategy is better.
SK Telecom's TV Commercial
KT's TV Commercial
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KT will launch their own exclusive smartphone. :: 2010/11/09 01:46
KT (Korea Telecom) announced that they would launch an exclusive smartphone next month. The handset is based on Google Android froyo (Android ver 2.2) and will be produced by KT Tech, a subsidiary of KT.
Even though KT provides Apple's iPhone exclusively in Korea, they are suffering from sourcing various smartphones because of the iPhone. As KT pushed iPhone to the market, the other mobile handset manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics was reluctant to provide KT with their brand-new Android smartphones. KT might need more smartphone line-up beyond iPhone in order to compete their competitor, SK Telecom. Collaborating intensively with Samsung Electronics, SK Telecom has defended well the KT-Apple's attack in the Korea's market. Under this circumstance, KT seems to reinforce their handset line-up with their own smartphone.
The spec of the smartphone seems to be excellent. It is equipped with the newest version of Android OS. Additionally, they strengthened the performance of the battery by adopting a high-performing battery of 1,590 mAh. (iPhone's - 1,418 mAh & Galaxy S - 1,500mAh) This point allowed many smartphone users to be satisfied with the usage time of the smartphone.
This year was a tipping point for the adoption rate of smartphone in the Korean mobile industry. In December 2009, around three to four percent of total mobile subscribers had smartphones, but the number of smartphone subscribers drastically increased, reaching to around 5 mil. Also, SK Telecom will launch around five smartphones until the late this year and KT will launch around six to seven smartphones this year. I expect that the number of smartphone subscribers would increase more drastically next year and reach to over 10 mil.
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