Qualcomm Inc (QCOM)

[khemara_qc]

More than 30 million of Korea's 34 million mobile-phone customers are currently registered for third-generation (3G) services, receiving mobile Internet access and video entertainment, according to industry insiders yesterday.

According to figures tracked through June, around 30.5 million mobile-phone users have subscribed to Korea's 3G standard cdma1x and cdma2000 1x EVDO, just three years after the launching of cdma1x in 2001.

SK Telecom Co., the country's largest mobile-phone operator, has 16.2 million cdma1x subscribers, followed by KT Freetel Co. and LG Telecom Co. with 9.9 million and 4.3 customers, respectively.

SK Telecom also leads the cdma2000 1x EVDO business with 5.4 million customers, followed by KTF with 2.3 million customers.

The government promotes cdma2000 1x EVDO and the GSM-based rival technology W-CDMA as the country's standard for 3G mobile telephony. There are only about 1,300 W-CDMA customers in Korea.

The industry is divided on whether to label cdma1x as 3G telephony, although many industry experts regard the platform as ?_stealth 3G.?¡¾ considering its data-casting functions.

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2004.07.15

http://www.koreaherald.co.kr/SITE/data/html_dir/2004/07/15/200407150014.asp