Phone companies tangle over international rates

International call carriers are caught up in fierce competition to cut service rates. KT Corp., the largest fixed-line telephone company in Korea, said yesterday it would cut international call rates by up to 60 percent, starting March 10. The announcement followed Dacom Corp.’s plan to cut international rates to those countries most frequently called by its customers, such as the United States, starting tomorrow. KT will slash international rates to the United States by 60 percent to 4.8 won (less than 1 cent) per second, and cut call rates to Japan by 18 percent to 11.5 won per second. Calls to China will be 16.6 won per second, down 22 percent. Calls to Germany, France and Italy will be 29 percent lower, or15.8 won per second. “We felt that we needed to enhance the price competitiveness of our international call services because the market is increasingly being taken over by mobile phone or Internet phone operators,” a KT official said. Onse Telecom Co., another fixed-line carrier, said it also planned to cut its rates to the level of its two larger rivals. Reacting to such challenges by local fixed-line operators, SK Telink Co., a mobile international call service provider, said it would cut international call rates to the United States to 2.6 won per second for the month of March. “We are considering maintaining the discount rates even after March if we get good responses from customers,” an official from SK Telink said. An Internet telephony operator, Serome Technology, also said it was considering rate cuts. by Choi Ji-young