Wireless Ban In Korea

A ban has recently been ordered for Korean wireless operators. This news story sounds a little odd when you read it...

Quote from the story:

“This will soothe the competative market and force the wireless operators to mainly focus on networking and their facilities enabling them to have a much more efficient network operator.

A temporary ban on wireless operators from signing on new subscribers will cool the overly competitive Korean market and prevent companies from spending heavily on marketing, enabling them to invest on network and facilities instead, an official at the Korea Communications Commission said. “The suspension ban won’t hurt these companies significantly because as we saw back in 2002, the operating environment for service providers improved with a decline in marketing expenses,” Park Syung-kyoo, standing commissioner of the KCC, told Dow Jones Newswires in a recent interview. The seven-member panel of the government-run agency under the Ministry of Information and Communication, which includes Park, recommended earlier this month a temporarily ban of wireless operators such as SK Telecom Co., KTF Co. and LG Telecom Co. from signing on new subscribers because they provided illegal handset subsidies. As expected, the ministry accepted the panel’s recommendation and SK Telecom, the country’s largest wireless operator was suspended from signing on new subscribers for 40 days while smaller rivals KTF and LG Telecom each received a 30-day ban.”

Source: Mobile9