University Columbia University Networks Global Alumni
By Kim Tae-gyu
Staff Reporter
One of the things that is regrettable about large-scale festivals, no matter how exciting, is that you usually have to be there to take it all in. Fortunately, with the advancement of technology, this is changing.
A good example is wireless broadband, which not only provides accurate and up-to-date information about events such as the upcoming Hi Seoul Festival, but also transmits real-time images and other visual content to people on the move.
This is an advantage that Seoul enjoys as the world's first ubiquitous city where people can remain hooked up to the super-fast Internet at any time and at any place thanks to a locally developed technology called WiBro.
WiBro enables people on the road to enjoy Internet connection at the speed of the landline broadband via laptops or handheld gadgets like smart phones.
KT, Korea's foremost telecom operator, launched the go-anywhere Internet services midway through last year and expanded service areas to reach every nook and cranny of Seoul this month.
``We went down in history through WiBro. Seoul is the only city in the globe that embraces the fast mobile Internet in a full-fledged manner,'' KT spokesman Oh Tae-sung said.
``We will continue to make efforts to boost WiBro. After checking its viability through services in the capital, we will come up with a plan to make the services available nationwide,'' Oh said.
The Seoul Metropolitan City government also shows keen interest in WiBro, which has the potential to become a big hit in the international arena over the next several years.
In particular, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed pride in WiBro during a ceremony to celebrate service area expansion held at Chonggyechon Square on April 3.
``We have done what top-string cities such as New York, London, Paris and Tokyo have failed to do. I am very proud of that,'' Oh said during the event.
At the gathering, KT CEO Nam Joong-soo also stressed that WiBro will be a great asset for Seoulites who number roughly 10 million, a fifth of the whole population.
``Amazing things that have been deemed far-off dreams are being realized here in Seoul,'' Nam said. ``These feats, the first in history, will raise the competitiveness of Seoul residents.''
WiBro was developed by the Korean government and companies like KT and Samsung Electronics, the world's third-largest manufacturer of cell phones.
With Samsung and KT leading the way, Korea hopes to export the homegrown portable Internet platform, which is widely known as the Mobile WiMax overseas.
Bright Future
WiBro services have yet to draw many subscribers but KT and Seoul City are confident that the go-anywhere Internet services will be mainstream applications.
The most encouraging for KT and the country's capital city is that WiBro users are content with the mobility-specific offerings.
Kim Shin-ae, a junior at Yonsei University, said that she is already a fan of WiBro.
``I have used WiBro since January mainly while commuting from my home in Pundang to Seoul in the morning and vice versa in the evening, which takes about three hours in total everyday,'' the 21-year-old Kim said.
``In the past, I literally wasted the time on the bus. However, now I am doing my studies or watching educational video footages on the go. WiBro gives me three more hours a day,'' she said.
Pundang is situated in Kyonggi Province. Though it doesn't belong to Seoul, WiBro offerings are available in Pundang where the KT head office is located.
Kim projected WiBro would draw a flurry of clients when people learn its advantages of portability and reliability.
``Presently, not so many of my friends are aware of WiBro. But as soon as they see me surf the Web on the bus, they are fascinated. They would sign up for this services down the road,'' Kim said.
Baek Ki-jong, 47, who operates an IT service company in Seoul and used WiBro since last year, concurs.
``WiBro deserves the title of the world's first-ever portable Internet. I can maintain connectivity at any time as long as I am in Seoul,'' Baek said.
``Discontinuation of the Internet connection sometimes irritates me but the glitches are tolerable and overall the service quality is fine,'' he said.
Baek said WiBro will be able to become more popular when the services go nationwide.
KT has attracted 3,300 customers and the former state monopoly, which was fully privatized in 2002, aims to increase the user pool to 200,000 this year.
Open-Wallet Marketing Campaigns
Toward that ends, KT provides benevolent benefits to subscribers of WiBro. First of all, it currently does not charge subscription fee of 30,000 won, the policy that will continue this month.
Monthly fees, which will be eventually around 30,000 won, are also set at 10,000 won for 1 gigabyte and are 19,800 won for a limitless data service, through next March.
Even though 1 gigabyte appears to be somewhat small from the perspective of the fixed-line broadband, the volume is considerable for light users.
With the packet data capacity, users can view about 500 Web sites, can play the Kart Rider car-racing game for 22 hours or stream up to 170 music files.
Furthermore, KT is poised to market a glittering array of WiBro terminals in the form of laptops, smart phones or other dedicated devices.
Early this month, the company unveiled a WiBro phone, the SPH-M8100 of Samsung Electronics that braces for both data and voice services.
LG Electronics, the cross-city rival of Samsung, plans to combine the mobile broadcasting called the terrestrial digital multimedia broadcasting (DMB) with WiBro phones.
The phones will debut later this month.
``In addition to Samsung and LG, a host of companies are ready to come up with various WiBro terminals in the months to come,'' KT spokesman Oh said.
``Together with our promotion programs, the devices will be sure to boost WiBro services to become one of the go-to platforms,'' he said.