Study urged on proposal for standard mobile code

President-elect Roh Moo-hyun's transition team has asked the Ministry of Information and Communication to be cautious in implementing its plan to issue identical three-digit prefixes to all new mobile subscribers, beginning next year. Accordingly, analysts are paying attention to whether the formal request will affect the Information Ministry's tele-communications conference to discuss the plan today. "We have not received the official report about the plan from the Information Ministry," a spokesman for the second economic department of the transition team said yesterday. "We have not received opinions of consumer groups and mobile service providers, either. "Since we don't have enough data for examining the plan, we have decided to ask the government to be careful, while delaying establishing our own view on the plan." The Information Ministry had originally planned to issue identical three-digit prefixes to subscribers of next-generation mobile phone services, beginning in 2007. But the ministry recently advanced the schedule. SK Telecom Co., the nation's top mobile service-provider, is strongly opposing the plan for fear of losing its "011" and "017" brand value. by Lee Sang-ryeul