By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter

Internet telephone operators were put on hold Thursday as the country's telecommunications regulator delayed its decision on whether to allow number portability to voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) users.

Number portability allows telephone customers to switch to Internet-based carriers while keeping their own numbers, and VoIP providers such as LG Dacom and Samsung Networks consider it crucial for industry growth.

However, the five executive members of the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), in a meeting chaired by chairman Choi See-joong, failed to agree on whether to allow the conversion, citing that telephone systems using the Internet are unable to provide directions on emergency calls.

However, in a country where more than nine out of 10 people own mobile-phones, the worries over emergency calls explain just part of the government's reluctance to allow the migration of customers.

A bigger reason could be found in the presence of telecom giant KT, which now handles about 90 percent of the country's fixed-line telephone customers and isn't too happy about the idea of losing subscribers to cheaper rates.

``There seems to be a conflict between telephone operators using the old public switched telephone network (PSTN) and the carriers providing services over Internet protocol," said Hyeong Tae-geun, one of KCC's executive members.

``We have lost too much time over this." However he added: ``Providing emergency services is crucial, and it isn't much of a problem if our schedule is delayed one or two months if we get things right eventually."

VoIP involves sending voice conversations as digital packets over the Internet, unlike traditional telephone services that take account of geography and distance. Unlike fixed-line services, VoIP is unable to automatically provide location-based information on emergency calls.

``It would be easy to track the IP address of a customer who uses both Hanarotelecom's Internet service and VoIP service," said Shin Yong-sup, director of the ministry's telecommunications policy bureau.

``However, it's impossible to do the same if that person used the Internet telephony services provided by LG Dacom," he said.

To solve this problem, VoIP providers have been collaborating with the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KOTA) to construct a database of subscriber records that could be relayed to the nearest fire stations on emergency calls.

However, that is hardly a flawless solution, as if subscribers move without updating their records, the 119 team will have a hard time locating the caller in emergency situations.

Other countries with VoIP services have faced similar problems. In May this year, a toddler in Canada suffered an unfortunate death when an emergency team was dispatched to Mississauga instead of the family's home in Calgary. The family was exclusively using VoIP services, but had moved without updating their emergency records.

The Ministry of Information and Communication, the KCC's predecessor, had previously announced plans to introduce number portability for Internet telephone users starting June 30 this year. However, with policymakers and operators struggling to find a solution for emergency calls, the plan has been left adrift.

Companies such as LG Dacom, Samsung Networks, Hanarotelecom, and SK Networks have been gathering subscribers for Internet telephone services. However, VoIP numbers are given a unified access code of 070, which makes users at the receiving end reluctant to pickup the calls for fear of getting spam messages.

According to KCC's count, there are about 1.2 million customers using VoIP services in Korea, accounting for about 5 percent of fixed-line customers.

thkim@koreatimes.co.kr