Mobile Phones Become Interchangeable Between Carriers

By Cho Jin-seo

Staff Reporter

Third-generation mobile phone users of SK Telecom and KTF will be able to switch companies and phones from July by using a tiny personalized computer chip, following the suit of Europe and many other nations belatedly.

The Korea Communications Commission said Thursday that it will allow mobile service providers to unlock their USIM (Universal Subscriber Identity Module) chips from July. USIM is a small computer chip inside handsets, which identifies the user and stores phone book directory and other personal data.

This will enable users of SK Telecom's T-Live and KTF's Show services to change their phones while maintaining their subscription, or to switch carriers while using a same phone. LG Telecom users are excluded because the company's phone system is not compatible.

The USIM unlock will encourage consumers to have more than one handsets with a single USIM card. It will also facilitate the trade of second-hand phones.

On the other hand, it is likely to damage profits of telecom companies, who have put a heavy registration fee on new subscribers. Consumers do not have to sign a new subscription anymore when they want to buy a new phone, even if the phone is not on sale from the mobile operator to which they are currently subscribing.

``By unlocking the USIM, citizens will be able to buy phones via various retail routes such as TV home-shopping channels or big discount stores, and that will lower handset prices in the long run,'' the KCC said in a statement.

Most countries have adopted interchangeable mobile phone systems for years though the details vary from country to country. But KCC, formerly the Ministry of Information and Communication, did not introduce the system to protect local telecom operators, who have charge a heavy registration fee for new subscribers.

Outcries from consumers, especially those who experienced the convenience of the USIM system in other countries, have pressured the government to lift the ban. It was only this March when SK Telecom and KTF unlocked USIM chips for their respective third-generation users, exclusively.

In their meeting on Thursday, five directors of the KCC unanimously approved unlocking the USIM. ``This is a global trend, and there is no objection to it,'' said director Lee Byeong-gi.

Phones sold before July, however, will remain non-interchangeable because handsets need technical calibrations, SK Telecom said.

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr