Oct. 26, 2009 (The Korea Times) -- By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Mobile telephony operators have never tried to hide their disdain for Wi-Fi, shuddering at the thought of mobile users ditching their expensive third-generation (3G) data services for free or cheap wireless Internet.
However, as companies face further pressure from consumers and regulators to lower voice rates, they are reluctantly accepting Wi-Fi as a weapon to defend their customer pools in the renewed price competition.
SK Telecom, the country's No. 1 mobile carrier with a 50-percent-plus market share, has been slammed by mobile users for having Wi-Fi connectivity removed from the 3G phones provided by local handset vendors such as Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
SK Telecom is now saying it will introduce more Wi-Fi-enabled phones in the coming months.
"The Wi-Fi handsets for our fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) services will be released by the first quarter of next year. They haven't decided on the number of models or the handset vendor that will produce them," an SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) official said.
SK Telecom is also promoting another new type of service called fixed-mobile substitution (FMS).
Unlike FMC services, which rely on Wi-Fi access points (APs) installed at homes for Internet telephony, SK Telecom's FMC services will be controlled by the company's existing base stations.
Users can pick certain service areas where mobile calls will be provided at a similar rate to voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) services.
For example, an SK Telecom user setting the area around his office as an FMS discount zone will pay only VoIP-level rates for every call placed.
FMS is considered a direct attack on KT, the country's biggest telephone company and broadband Internet provider, as it aims to eliminate the need for having mobile and fixed-line phones separately.
SK Telecom says that Wi-Fi will be a key feature in delivering premium data services to its FMS phones.
"FMS will be available on both second-generation (2G) and 3G handsets. However, we will release some Wi-Fi-enabled FMS phones in the future, which will be able to support more data services," said Lee Soon-kun, who heads SK Telecom's marketing unit.
KT seems to be embracing Wi-Fi more thoroughly, looking to use its vast wireless Internet infrastructure to gain the upper hand against its industry rival.
South Korea has around 13,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, the seventh-highest number in the world, and KT's "Netspot" zones account for most of them.
