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Fast Mobile Internet Service to Start Next March
2005-07-12
Korea¡¯s leading wireless carriers _ SK Telecom and KTF _ plan to embark on fast mobility-specific Internet services with cell phones starting next March.
The operators yesterday revealed the plan on launching the high-speed data packet access (HSDPA), the 3.5-generation wireless technology, at a meeting with Information-Communication Minister Chin Dae-je.
HSDPA, a turbocharger of European-based 3G offerings W-CDMA, enables people on the road to make an access to the Internet at the speed of current fixed-line broadband Internet.
The mobile platform shows a theoretical maximum speed of 14.4 megabits per second (Mbps) and its real life end-user speed will be at least in the range of 2 to 3 Mbps.
``Finally, the genuine wireless Internet will arrive after an array of broken promises on providing the 3G features with mobile handsets. HSDPA will have a shot at becoming mainstream,¡¯¡¯ Dongwon Securities analyst Greg Roh said.
Roh said streaming DVD-quality films will be possible with HSDPA and video calls and global roaming services will be easier under the upcoming platform.
It is quite a confident prediction compared to the continual setbacks of its predecessor W-CDMA, of which commercial offerings began here late 2003.
It hardly attracted attention as just about 3,000 people have signed up for the service until last month due to technical glitches and lack of proper terminals and most of them are employees of W-CDMA-related businesses.
The failure weighed on SK Telecom and KTF because both poured money in W-CDMA, 1.3-trillion won license fees each and hundreds of billions won of network investment.
But Dongwon¡¯s Roh said the heavy investment would help HSDPA, which can be handily upgraded from W-CDMA by adding channel cards, take off early.
Business leader SK Telecom agrees with the reasoning that W-CDMA investments will make its role through HSDPA.
``The full-fledged commercial launch of W-CDMA will have almost the same meaning as the rolling out of HSDPA,¡¯¡¯ an SK Telecom spokesman said.
SK Telecom already unveiled its billing system of charging 16,000 won of fixed-rate data price under HSDPA, aimed to prompt young customers to snap up the service.
In time with the HSDPA scheme, Korea¡¯s handset makers also look to introduce terminals which can operate under the new network and conventional ones alike.
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