In 2005, KT Corp. , Hanaro Telecom Inc. , and SK Telecom received licenses for WiBro (Korea's name for mobile WiMax), although Hanaro returned its license in the same year. According to the terms of those licenses, the companies agreed to invest $1 billion on infrastructure, and the government set a target of 1.4 million subscribers by 2009.
Investment:
To date, KT and SKT still have $200 million to $300 million in capex left to invest in the technology, according to Tae-Hyung Kim, Asia/Pacific analyst at Pyramid Research. It is this shortfall, combined with the slow rollout and takeup of services, that has overstretched the government's patience.
Market take-up:
As of the end of June, KT had 218,454 WiBro subscribers, according to the company's figures. SKT does not publish its WiBro subscriber numbers separately, but Kim believes the number stood at just 20,000 in April this year, although the company has a target of 100,000 by the end of the year. As of the end of June, Korea had just shy of 22 million HSPA subscribers, according to Wireless Intelligence , that's 47 percent of the total mobile subscriber base.
Network coverage:
A key factor in the difference in takeup is coverage. WiBro coverage is limited to Seoul and its surrounding areas, whereas HSPA is nationwide and Pyramid's Kim explains that even if the operators complete their promised investments, nationwide coverage is out of the question.
source: unstrung
No comments:
Post a Comment