KT Passes 50,000 Subscribers for WiBro in Seoul

by Jeff Orr
Editor, Mobile Broadband News

Telecoms Korea reported today that KT’s WiBro service in Seoul, South Korea has surpassed 50,000 subscribers only two weeks after it had reported net subscribers of 40,000 in August. The sudden expansion is attributed to the production availability of more devices, including the recent introduction of a USB modem.

Early in the year KT completed deployment of base stations across the entire city of Seoul. Once completed, KT launched an aggressive WiBro recruiting campaign targeting college students and young business persons with promotions and contests around user-generated content. The operator also opened the “W Style Shop” in Shinchon, a downtown area frequented by young people, to raise recognition and promote the service. KT expressed success with the initial campaign.

In addition to the Samsung devices already available for the WiBro service, Korea’s LG is also seeing stable sales growth for their chocolate phone (LG-KC1).

KT said that the WiBro service will continue to gain popularity because business clients, including those in the insurance industry, are considering building WiBro-based mobile office systems. WiBro is considered an alternative solution to services such as U-Campus and stock news service, as well as service products bundled with Megapass broadband service and Nespot wireless Internet service.

To further broaden customer choice, KT plans to release six types of WiBro devices, including USB modems, WiBro phones, and mobile PCs in October.