SEOUL, South Korea-Four South Korean telecom companies have applied for one of three third-generation (3G) licenses. The licenses, to be awarded through a modified beauty contest by the end of 2000, will bring in at least US$2.7 billion for the government.
SK Telecom, Korea Telecom, LG Telecom and Hanaro Telecom all applied for a license, according to a Reuters report. All the companies except Hanaro hold stakes in operating second-generation wireless networks.
The Ministry of Information and Communication has said only two carriers will be allowed to adopt wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA), the report said, although all the country’s carriers have noted their interest in migrating to W-CDMA.
However, SK Telecom has launched commercial 1XRTT service, an evolutionary technology to cdma2000.
