Web Surfing on Cells Goes Limitless

Mobile Internet Platform Will Be Fully Open in September

By Kim Tae-gyuStaff Reporter
Starting September, South Koreans will be able to use their phones to access the Internet just as they do today with their home computers.
Korea¡¯s main mobile carriers _ SK Telecom and KTF _ Monday said they will open up their wireless Internet platforms to other firms. LG Telecom also plans to follow suit soon.
``Cell phones released later than this September will be prepared for the software making on-the-move Web surfing easier,¡¯¡¯ SK Telecom vice president Park Byung-keun said.
``The new handsets¡¯ user interface to the Web will be similar to that of personal computers. Users can directly type in the domain address to enter any site,¡¯¡¯ Park said.
Park added that redirection of a hot key, which links up to a preset Web page at the touch of a button, will become easier just as PC users can reconfigure the starting page of the landline Internet.
Korea has arguably the best conditions in the world for a mobile handset-based Internet service thanks to its state-of-the-art infrastructure and an abundance of Internet-capable smart phone users.
Base stations cover almost every corner of the nation and more than 30 million among the country¡¯s 48 million people carry high-end smart phones.
The take-up of the Internet cell phones, however, has been slower than expected since wireless companies mandated clients to enter the mobile Internet via their own Web portals, thus blocking unbounded access to the Web.
The three wireless telephony service providers _ SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom _ favored their own sites of Nate, MagicN and eZ-I, respectively.
Other online firms called the policies discriminatory but the three operators have been reluctant to straighten things out over the past few years.
In the end, the Korea Communications Commission affiliated with the Ministry of Information and Communication urged the carriers to open up the mobile Internet platforms last October.
Currently, SK Telecom has roughly 19.5 million customers or 50.9 percent of the market followed by KTF with 12.3 million users. LG Telecom is a distant third with 6.5 million subscribers.
Internet On the Road
The envisioned steps are projected to boost the Internet use on the road in tune with the growing trend of get-your-information-anytime-anywhere in Korea.
``In the future, mobile devices will be where consumers access the Internet most often and the opening of the mobile Internet network will provide a momentum in the right direction,¡¯¡¯ said Stan Jung, an analyst at Woori Securities.
``By late next year, a majority of wireless users will be equipped with smart phones capable of unlimited connection to the Net. Then, Korea¡¯s mobile Internet market will start to explode,¡¯¡¯ Jung predicted.
He added the debut of the high-speed download packet access (HSDPA) early this year will play a pivotal role in buoying the go-anywhere Internet.
HSDPA is an up-and-coming wireless technology that is expected to bridge present third-generation systems, wideband code division multiple access (W-CDMA), and the 4G platform.
As a turbocharger of W-CDMA, HSDPA promises a real-life speed in the neighborhood of 2 megabits per second, similar to today¡¯s fixed-line broadband.
Experts say the long-heralded HSDPA will make the cell phone-based Internet easier and cheaper.
SK Telecom plans to commercially launch HSDPA this March and KTF plans to follow the footsteps of the business leader this year.