Mobile in Korea

  LG Telecom launched a full browsing service using EV-DO Rev.A. Even if about 10 days have passed after LG Telecom launched this service in 4th April, LG Telecom attracted new 4,000 subscribers a day on average.

  There are two barriers preventing the expansion of mobile data service on handset.

  The first one is data traffic price. If someone wants to use data service with handset, he usually has paid about $25 per month. However, LG Telecom started to provide data service at an affordable price of $6 per month. It is by far the cheapest data service option for user of mobile data service in Korea.

 The second one is the walled garden policy of korean mobile operators. Mobile internet services in Korea are usually provided in a closed portal of each operator. (SK Telecom : Nate / KTF : Magic N / LG Telecom : Ez i) In this environment, the limited services like ring back tone and ringtone have gotten popularity. Although Korean government and  many internet portals including Naver and Yahoo have pushed mobile operators to open their mobile internet service, they have kept the closed services. LG Telecom started to attack other operators through opening data service with full browsing service and users are welcoming the change of mobile data service.

  Since last year, SK Telecom and KTF have been investing to establish the WCDMA service allowing video calling services and spending their efforts in order to make this service as a killer app of 3G. However, the full browsing service is more possible to become a killer app of 3G.