WiBro will contribute to reinforcing the global competitiveness of domestic IT-related industries plus generate demand across industries that manufacture communication equipment and terminals, as well as content providers. The current structure of the communication industry, characterized by limited competition within the wire/wireless sectors, will be changed to one in which fusion between different kinds of industries will accelerate after the launch of WiBro. Experts agree that this will boost efficiencies within industries by realigning competition between communications providers and by expanding their competitive ability. WiBro, in fact, will facilitate fusion between wire/wireless services, and between different kinds of industries. Experts contend that with a mutually complementary approach between established services, WiBro must be developed as a dynamic entity to maximize new growth within the communication market. In a word, WiBro is a base technology for wire/wireless integration services that complements existing mobile communications based on low-speed/high-costs and wireless LAN offering a limited mobility. Compared with wireless LAN service, WiBro guarantees convenient mobility and offers reasonable charges (30,000 won to 40,000 won per month) and faster speeds than current mobile phones. Users can access various types of information as well as content by connecting to the Internet through a high-speed (1Mbps) connection whenever and wherever they wish whilst in motion (up to speeds of 60km/h). WiBro will likely exert influence on the high-speed Internet and wireless LAN market as a wire/wireless integration-based service. In addition, it will compete with HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) in the wireless Internet field. WiBro is emerging as a much-needed new growth engine in the domestic communication market, now in a state of saturation. The introduction of WiBro is estimated by the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute (ETRI) to boost total production by an additional 22 trillion won, create value-added worth 10 trillion won, and promote exports by 7.6 trillion won. Most likely beneficiaries will be the terminal, communications equipment and semiconductor manufacturers. The introduction of wireless broadband high-speed Internet services will also be a great boon to consumer convenience. Should WiBro be combined with mobile phones, not to mention established wire/wireless high-speed Internet services, consumers can experience a whole new world of entertainment and information. In addition, should DMB and WiBro be combined, various services such as traffic advisories, broadcasting, financial transactions and e-Commerce can be offered, all while "on the move." By Yeo Hong Il / hiyeo@ittimes.co.kr