'3G will be major service by next year'

Third-generation services will comprise half the entire mobile market by late next year, according to KTF chief executive officer Cho Young-chu.

"We are targeting SHOW (KTF's 3G brand) subscribers to reach 2.7 million by the end of this year. Once we gain momentum, the entire 3G market will grow," he was quoted as saying in an interview with Yonhap News.

"By late next year, 3G will take over half of the mobile communications market."

Third-generation networks offer greater capacity than 2G, enabling more sophisticated data services such as video telephony.

On comments that KTF is focusing too much on 3G and could lose its 2G subscribers to competitors as a result, Cho pointed out that the global trend is for 3G services.

KTF, the nation's second-largest mobile operator, plans to launch another 20 3G handset models in the second half of this year, KTF spokesperson Lee Youn-joo said.

Phone manufacturers, including Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics, are also planning to unveil more 3G phones in the coming months.

Samsung Electronics, which recently launched a swing-type phone offering digital multimedia broadcasting functions, will add 10 3G phones with maximum download speeds of 7.2 Mbps to its portfolio, according to Ko Hong-sun, senior manager of the Anycall sales team at Samsung Electronics.

LG Electronics will also launch several new 3G products in the second half of the year, with more focus on multimedia functions such as video recording for user-created content production, LG Electronics said in a statement.

There were 41 million mobile service subscribers in Korea as of April, according to IT Statistics of Korea.

Since the launch of its SHOW 3G service in March, KTF has gained 750,000 3G subscribers.

SK Telecom, which has more than a 50 percent share of the total mobile market, had 266,000 3G+ subscribers as of May 31.

LG Telecom plans to launch 3G services at the end of this year, according to company officials.

By Kim Yoon-mi

Origin : Monday, June 19, 2007,  Of Korea Herald Business article...

먼저 3G란 무엇인가? 현재는 1,2세대의 핸드폰은 음성과 메세징에 치중 되었다면, 3세대는 데이터 서비스를 제공할 수 있다는 것이다. 이유는 2기가의 헤르츠 주파수를 사용하여 사용자가 정지, 걷거나, 달리는 차안에서도 빠른 속도로 데이터를 주고 받을 수 있는 것이다. 그렇기 때문에 동영상 화상 전화, 인터넷 방송등 많은 시각적인 자료를 실시간으로 볼 수 있다는 것이다.
그러나 현재 3G phone의 사용이 급증하고 있지만, 3G의 유용성을 많이 느끼지 못한다고 한다.
이유는 3G이용자가 아직까지는 많지 않기 때문이다. 사용자들이 직접 쓰고 느끼는 점은 향후 3G의 미래를 좌우 할 것이다. 그렇기에 사용자들이 많은 서비스들을 이용 할 수 있도록 많은 무료 서비스와 더 많은 체험 요원들을 선발하여서 3G가 자리를 잡아갔으면 하는 생각이든다.