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Telecommunication Infrastructure Summary Up to the 1980s, Korean government didn't take a serious view of telecommunication industry. There were only 2,705,000 telephones and teledensity was 71 telephones per 1000 people in 1980 [2]. However, Korea is now one of the most advanced countries in the world in terms of infrastructure and usage of telecommunication. Under the supervision of a proactive government, the Ministry of Information and Communication reported that it has finished wiring the entire country with optical fiber lines to in order to enable high-speed internet and telecom services. The South Korean government's concerted effort to deregulate and upgrade the telecom market has benefited the country's Internet and wireless market immensely. South Koreans now enjoy relatively cheap telephone and broadband network services and high-speed cable modems and DSL services are widely available. These commercial broadband services are usually available for about USD 20-30 per month [8]. This greatly encourages many South Koreans to subscribe to broadband services.
In his most recent article titled "Global Prospects for Broadband Internet", eMarketer's broadband analyst Ben Macklin ranks South Korea third behind the US and Canada in terms of broadband readiness and potential on a worldwide basis. Furthermore, the report ranks the country number one within the Asia Pacific region ahead of Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
Source: Ministry of Information and Communication, Korea. December 10, 2001
Source: Ministry of Information and Communication, Korea. December 10, 2001
Public cellular phones were first provided in September 1961. Since then, the Government established the Korea Mobile Telecommunication Services Co., Ltd., a company in exclusive charge of mobile telecommunication services, in March 1984 in order to meet a sudden increase of the demand for mobile telecommunication services and technological development. In 1985, the Government introduced the Advanced Mobile Phone Service (AMPS) and the Motorola’s Electronic Mobile Exchange (EMX) system, to start with public cellular mobile phone services in Seoul and other metropolitan areas on a full scale. In 1988, Korea Mobile Telecommunication Services Company changed its name to Korea Mobile Telecom (KMT), and started independent management with the designation as a ‘public telecommunication service provider’ by the Government. In 1996, Shinsegi Telecom, a new service provider, entered the mobile telecommunication market. With the introduction of competition to the cellular phone service market, CDMA mode cellular phone services were introduced. Thus, CDMA was commercialized for the first time in Korea. In January 1997, KMT was incorporated into Sunkyong Group and renamed to SK Telecom. In October 1997, KT Freetel, LG Telecom and Hansol PCS started Personal Communication System (PCS) as a commercial service, with which all together five competing companies emerged in the cellular phone market. The number of cellular phone subscribers that was no more than 2,658 persons in 1984 suddenly increased to 80,005 in 1990 and to 1,641,293 in 1995 [1]. The table below shows the Korea's situation at the end of June 2000 with cell phone subscribers according to the Ministry of Information and Communication.
Wireless data communication services refer to a communication service through which a user can send and receive various data such as characters, number and videos wirelessly using a PCS terminal that allows wireless transmission. In Korea, three nation-wide service providers such as Air Media, InTech Telecom and Hanse Telecom have been providing these services since the second half of 1997. At the beginning, the wireless data communication services were provided mainly for the enterprise market. Since September 1998, Air Media started providing two-way wireless data services to the general public, the number of subscribers and the amount of sales has suddenly increased. The table below shows Korea's situation at the end of July 2000 with wireless data communication services subscribers according to the Ministry of Information and Communication.
Started from the 1980s, Korea expended optical fiber cables and submarine cables between major cities and other nations. In 1983, optical fiber cable system was built for the first time in Korea. It linked Kuro, Seoul, and Inchon. Domestic submarine optical fiber cable system between Kohung and Che-ju Island, which is located in southern part of Korea, was built in 1990. In addition, an international submarine optical cable network, which linked Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan, was constructed in 1990.
To provide high speed and quality international telecommunication services, KT has started to operate satellite earth station and launched KOSAT 1, the first Korean satellite, in 1995. Shortly after launching the KOSAT 1, KOSAT 2 was launched in 1996 to provide communications services such as remote video conferencing, direct broadcasting services (DBS), high speed leased line services, and trunk transmission. |
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