South Korea’s KT Corp has announced that it will be selling the 2G iPad in the Asian country from the next month.
KT’s hometown rival and the country’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom has stated that it is actively considering offering the tablet device in the domestic market.
From April, SK Telecom will begin selling four tablet computer models, including Motorola Mobility Holdings’ Xoom, Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy Tab devices and LG Electronics’ Optimus Pad.
KT Olleh is offering free incoming MMS messages on roaming when customers travelling overseas.
KT is already offering free incoming SMS and LMS messages. Furthermore, KT has launched a data roaming limiting service.
When service fees exceed US$89.3, the data roaming service will be blocked. KT has also strengthened its secure roaming service by offering a flat rate of US$0.44 per message for roaming MMS messages to any destination in the world.
SK Telecom is all set to enter iPhone Market this month. The company will start selling the Apple iPhone 4 from March 16 with pre-orders to begin from Wednesday. This will end KT’s exclusive distribution of iPhones in the country and signals mounting competition between the two leaders in the market.
SK Telecom will offer similar contracts for the iPhone as KT but will try to attract customers with better customer service. It will replace faulty handsets with new ones if defects are found within seven days of purchase and any needed repairs will be done at SK Telecom’s own service center. It will also offer discounts for repair costs to loyal customers.
KT plans to fend off the challenge with its service know-how gained by selling iPhones over the past year.
Korean telecommunications regulator, Korea Communications Commission (KCC) has prepared guidelines to minimize interference between Wi-Fi access points.
Additionally, KCC will organize a website with information for access point operators and develop and distribute applications to search Wi-Fi channel uses in the neighboring access points.
The regulator will also begin a campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the guidelines in cooperation with Korea Communications Agency (KCA) and Korea Radio Promotion Association (RAPA).
In response to these guidelines, the three mobile operators KT, LG Uplus and SK Telecom have signed agreements on minimizing Wi-Fi interference.
Qatar’s incumbent telecom operator, Qtel has signed an agreement with Korean telco, KT Corporation, to jointly develop products targeting companies involved in the development of smart cities, including developers, infrastructure companies, and government agencies.
According to Khalid Abdulla Al Mansouri, Executive Director of business solutions at Qtel, alliance will drive the development of the knowledge-based economy in Qatar.
As per the agreement, the two companies will also create an integrated management solution that will enable developers to manage development operations and offer value-added services for businesses and residents in the new developments.
According to Dr Kim Hansuk, Senior Executive Vice President and Head of Global Business unit, KT Corporation, smart city developments are transforming urban environments around the world, helping to reduce energy use and transforming the range of services provided.
One of the services being developed is a Smart City command centre, which is a central platform that enables developers to monitor and manage all services across the state of Qatar through a unified control point.
The two companies are also exploring the potential of digital signage services, security and intelligent building, remote healthcare and remote learning services.
Qatar already has more than 10 master projects under the smart cities development.
Japan’s NTT DoCoMo has established a broad-based business tie-up with China’s largest mobile operator, China Mobile, and South Korean telecom operator KT Corporation.
Through the association, DoCoMo is aiming to provide mobile customers with greater convenience in the rapidly growing regional market of Northeast Asia, where increasing international cooperation is creating opportunities for new business development.
Specific areas to be looked at include international roaming, enterprise services, LTE and other network technologies, smartphones and common platforms.
No other details about the agreement were provided.
KT, the second largest operator in South Korea, is reportedly set to offer a version of Samsung’s Galaxy Tab device which supports WiBro network connectivity.
The Galaxy Tab is already available from operators SK Telecom and LG Uplus, supporting 3G and WiFi connectivity. WiBro is the South Korean implementation of WiMAX.
WiBro, which stands for wireless broadband, differs from Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity) in that it allows users to get solid Internet connections even while in moving vehicles. It’s also normally cheaper and faster at playing videos than service provided over the 3G network.
The move by KT to sell a WiBro-compatible Galaxy Tab could also help secure the future of the network. KT has invested heavily in WiBro, seeing it as the best network to handle the rapidly increasing amount of data transmissions over wireless systems.
Apple iPad finally went on sale in South Korea and this was after three weeks when the local giant Samsung Electronics launched its rival tablet computer the Galaxy Tab in its home market.
One hundred invited preorder customers, anxious to get their hands on the popular new gadget, lined up before dawn at a downtown Seoul branch of wireless operator KT, the sole Korean partner for iPhones and iPads.
According to KT, it had received 50,000 preorders for the iPad since November 17.
According to KT spokesman Ham Young-Jin, the company has started distributing it nationwide. Customers are receiving their preordered iPads at the moment.
The company earlier announced the gadget would start selling at US$192 with a two-year contract, rising to US$745.63 for models with additional features.
KT Corp., South Korea’s largest fixed-line operator, will roll out Apple Inc.’s iPad tablet computer in Korea this month.
According to the company, all models of iPad will be officially available via KT this month. The exact launching date will be determined later.
KT, also South Korea’s second-largest wireless operator after SK Telecom Co., has sought to expand its offerings of mobile devices in a move to compete with other operators in one of the world’s most saturated wireless markets.
The Korea Communications Commission, the country’s telecommunications regulator, last month reviewed and approved Apple’s request to sell iPad in the domestic market.
KT is also the sole provider of Apple’s popular iPhone 4 in the local market.
