By Cho Jin-seo
Staff Reporter
It will be worthwhile to wait a few more months to enjoy the full capacity of Web-browsing mobile phones from LG Telecom.
Complaints have been rising among the firms' ``Oz'' service users that the handsets are too slow when loading Web pages. The mobile operator said it is not the fault of their network but the hardware that is impeding the performance, and the situation won't improve until new models are introduced in the second half of this year, at the earliest.
``Our network is fast enough, but the handsets' computing power can not catch up with the network speed,'' said a manager at the company headquarters office, who requested anonymity. ``The computer chips in mobile phones are slower than those running PCs. We believe that the problem will be solved when we have high-performance handsets planned for late this year or early next year,'' he said.
LG Telecom's Oz is the hottest mobile Internet service plan these days with more than 100,000 signing up since April. The firm currently sells two premium handset models from LG Electronics (LG2300) and Japan's Casio (CanU801Ex) for the OZ service. No other models support the so-called full-browsing Internet function.
On many Internet communities, users have complained about the inconvenience when browsing Web pages. For example, it takes more than 20 seconds to load the front page of Naver, the most popular Web portal site, they say.
LG Telecom had planned to introduce around 10 new models for the Oz service. But on Tuesday, it took a step back, saying the plan is susceptible to changes.
``We are not sure whether we will be able to bring out a new model in the first half of the year. We haven't fixed the schedule for the second half either,'' said public relations official Kim Yoon-ok. ``We are continually discussing with handset makers about the launching date to make decisions on handset specifications.''
Kim said all of the new models will come from Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics.
The first mobile service that allows users to freely browse Web pages as if they are using PCs, the Oz has received a sensational response from Korean users. Its attractive price plan of 6,000 won per month was another advantage it has had over competitors such as SK Telecom and LG Telecom.
Before Oz, accessing the Internet on phones had limitations. Firms charged users for many services, which are free when accessed on PCs. The download fees were also much higher than PC Internet fees.
indizio@koreatimes.co.kr