However despite the impact of WiBro's commercialization in Korea for the first time globally, it is revealing its limitations in several respects, such as terminal prices turning out to be more expensive than expected. Also, some experts point out that the charge structure and the terminal type with service connection equipment being merely of one kind (PCMCIA card) actually overlap. Accordingly, the PCMCIA card price, approaching 200,000 won (around $210) must be lowered, along with cutting usage charges, and needless to say strategic contents to retrieve the cost burden must be offered.
Since initial market formation would be advanced fairly after terminals such as PDA and PMP - to say nothing of cellular phones - become more diversified, it is important to keep open the possibility of introducing on the market a combination product that sells easier by combining high-speed Internet, mobile communication, and VoIP with WiBro.
On one hand, we welcome the fact that the Asian & Pacific Training Centre for Information and Communication Technology for Development (APCICT) was inaugurated on June 16 at New Songdo City, Incheon, Korea with a view to spreading the benefits of IT to all. The establishment of a new ICT training center like APCICT is very timely and significant, in that Korea can share its prowess and advanced technology with the least-developed countries (LDCs) in the Asia Pacific area in terms of IT development. The Asian and Pacific region presents the greatest contrast among countries in the areas of ICT development and application. While certain countries in the region are global leaders, like South Korea in some areas of ICT development, some are still struggling to provide basic telecommunications infrastructure to their citizens, as is being seen in the least underdeveloped countries in terms of IT development. With the establishment of APCICT including diverse IT lecture programs for the Asia-Pacific region as an impetus, Korea must lead the way by spreading the benefits of IT to all.
In addition, we would like to underline that external cooperation with foreign counterparts needs to be accelerated. In that context, the Indian IT Minister's recent visit to Seoul in mid-June was sufficient to convince us of the fact that not only the chaebol (conglomerates), but also Korea's small & medium enterprises (SMEs) should take advantage of India's strengths in the service and manufacturing sectors besides established IT collaboration.
Despite of a clear indication of a very competitive but from the regulatory point of view also difficult market, we sincerely hope that Finland's rotating EU Presidency will allow Korean and Finnish ICT companies to boost cooperation, both in issues related to regulatory questions and also supplying each other with components, as both Finland and the Republic of Korea are advanced economies in the ICT sector. Moreover, a State Visit to the Republic of Korea by H.E. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, the President of the Republic of Indonesia, slated for July 19 through July 22, 2006, is expected to pave the way for new collaboration between the two countries including IT as well as resources, energy development etc.
Kim Tae-sub
저작권자 © Korea IT Times 무단전재 및 재배포 금지
