Handset subsidies are illegal in korea - perhaps part of the reason the
phones are still so pathetic (mostly B+W) despite the excellent 1X network
infra.
BTW the samsung phone sprint will be selling in july in the US is
*awesome* - color, small, stylish, fast java, rumored sub $200 price point
at launch.
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Mobile Carriers in Brawl over Subsidy Payment
LG Telecom, the 016 mobile carrier, claimed Tuesday that its rival SK
Telecom, the market leader in mobile service with its 011 service, paid out
handset subsidies estimated at W70 to W80 billion to its sales offices
nationwide in January and February. The outlawed subsidy payment is designed
to sell handsets to new mobile subscribers at prices lower than the
manufacturer's cost.
An official at LG Telecom said that SK Telecom has been monopolizing new
subscribers by paying out subsidies ranging from W90,000 to W150,000 per
set. The 016 operator also claimed that KTF, the 019 carrier, has been
involved in a circumventive subsidy payment by offering discounts and gifts
to new customers under the pretext of a sales event, starting from last
month.
The LG group's mobile unit argued that the gap in the market share between
the 016 and 011 carriers has been widening due to these illegal marketing
activities by SK Telecom. LG Telecom said that, in the first two months this
year, SK Telecom managed to expand the number of its subscribers by 400,000
and KTF by 124,000, in stark contrast to LG Telecom's 46,000.
An official at SK Telecom refuted the claim by saying that LG Telecom has
come up with much distorted market rates.
(Kim Ki-hong, darma90@chosun.com)
+---------------------------------------------------------+
david [dc] collier
v | +1 310-709-7286
e | dc@gamelet.com
+---------------------------------------------------------+
Received on Tue Apr 2 23:24:51 2002