By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
Tech-savvy South Koreans already use their mobile phones to watch television, check e-mails and surf the Internet. Now the growing list of functions includes the repelling of mosquitoes.
With the summer holiday season entering its peak, the country's three mobile telephony operators ― SK Telecom, KTF and LG Telecom ― are competing to release specialized services for vacationers heading to the mountains, rivers and beaches.
The offerings include location-based route guide services, overseas roaming, emergency services and more eccentric ideas like providing daily fishing reports for anglers, and of course, battling blood-sucking insects.
The transition to third-generation (3G) telephony is allowing SK Telecom and KTF to expand their mobile-phone roaming services to more countries, with the latest wireless standard compatible to the global system for mobile communications (GSM) technology adopted in most parts of the world.
SK Telecom's 3G subscribers are offered automatic roaming services in 157 countries, compared to the 145 countries for KTF's 3G customers.
There are lesser options for second-generation (2G) customers, still accounting for the larger part of the country's mobile phone population, although SK Telecom provides automatic roaming services in 20 countries, including the United States, China, Japan, Thailand and Hong Kong.
SK Telecom is also providing a 24-hour emergency call service, accessed on 02-3445-9445, which helps its customers abroad book hotels or performing arts events, and even talk to a Korean doctor if sick.
KTF, in collaboration with Japanese operator, NTT Docomo, allows its customers to track the location of their friends or family members in Japan through their handsets. KTF is also offering lower rates for customers using text-messaging services overseas in July and August.
There is also a wide range of services targeting travelers choosing to stay in the country.
All three wireless carriers provide location-based services including route guides, traffic reports, weather updates, tourist information, restaurant lists, and even information on the location of banks and cheaper gas stations.
They also claim to have found a solution for the classic summer nuisance of mosquitoes.
LG Telecom says its ``Mosquito Repelling Plus" service allows the handset to generate a frequency bandwidth capable of clearing mosquitoes within a range of one meter. SK Telecom and KTF also provide similar services.
SK Telecom's ``Anyfishing" services provide fishing enthusiasts with real-time updates on water temperature, depth, and fish types at the country's popular fishing points in rivers and seas.
KTF is the only carrier providing wireless Internet services on the KTX high-speed trains and also provides golf tips customized from its analysis of more than 250 golf courses in Korea.