South Korea's third generation (3G) mobile service market is expected to witness a major battle between domestic players and foreign equipment manufacturers over the lucrative bidding for large-scale orders.
Korea is already offering 3G services, otherwise known as cdma2000 1x, which is capable of offering data transmission at up to 144Kbps. Mobile carriers are also in a hurry to implement EV-DO, an upgrade to the existing 3G network based on Qualcomm's CDMA technology.
But a new battle is being staged at the other end of the 3G spectrum: telecom equipment bidding for W-CDMA 3G services by KT ICOM, a unit of state-run telecom giant KT Corp. and SK IMT, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile carrier.
KT and SK Telecom won the W-CDMA 3G licenses in December 2000 while LG Telecom, another mobile carrier, grabbed a license for cdam2000 3G services in mid-2001.
Given that Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics have virtually dominated the 2G mobile telecom equipment market in partnership with major wireless carriers, foreign gear manufacturers pin hopes on the ongoing equipment bidding by KT ICOM and SK IMT.
The valuation of the two bids are hard to guess, people familiar with the matter said. What is known is that KT ICOM set aside 740 billion won for telecom gear investment this year and SK IMT earmarked 115.5 billion won for the same purpose.
The stakes are higher than this year's net amount as the two companies plan to invest heavily in their 3G infrastructure in coming years. Both companies are now operating BMT (benchmark testing) to choose final winners for their equipment orders.
KT ICOM said it will demonstrate a testing-level service of W-CDMA 3G during the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup, which is set to start May 31.
The company said the public perception of 3G services that using the 2GHz spectrum will improve during the world's biggest soccer event if its multimedia service successfully showcases its appealing content to viewers both at home and abroad.
KT ICOM plans to set up the network in Seoul, Busan and Gyeonggi Province by the end of this year before providing a full-fledged commercial 3G service early next year.
Currently, it is operating BMT for four bidders: LG Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Mercury (in partnership with Nokia) and Ericsson.
The BMT will be wrapped up by May 4, after which KT ICOM said it will advance negotiations with two priority negotiators and one secondary candidate to decide on the successful candidate. In other words, at least one loser out of the four candidates will be known in the second week of May and then the final winner will be announced in early June, KT ICOM officials said.
SK IMT, meantime, selected six bidders for switching equipment and seven bidders for base station gears late last year. It plans to stage a second round of BMT early next month.
Although SK IMT's facility investment is set at 155.5 billion won for 2002, the amount is set to go up to 649.1 billion won in 2003. SK officials said the final winners will be disclosed early next year, at the earliest.
LG, Samsung, Mercury and Ericsson are bracing themselves for a make-or-break bidding battle. Losers are likely to be sidelined in the continued boom of the wireless business in Korea.
Globally, major mobile carriers are withholding or canceling their W-CDMA 3G service plans amid growing uncertainty about profitability. This negative outlook implies that Korea is one of the few precious battlegrounds for equipment makers to showcase their technological edge, if they want to enter other markets in the future.
Samsung and LG tend to highlight their proven expertise in developing and upgrading CDMA equipment in racing for the much-coveted orders by KT ICOM and SK IMT.
Foreign manufacturers - Nokia and Ericsson - have been on the sidelines when it comes to CDMA equipment but they are keen to claim back their share in the W-CDMA standard, where European developers supposedly hold technological superiority.
