Korea’s telecoms market: ‘The world is watching’

While mobile technology is used merely as a communications tool in Europe, in Northeast Asia, and especially in Korea, cell phones are intimate products integral to lifestyle and culture, said Stephen McClelland, editor of UK-based Telecommunications International magazine. Mr. McClelland was speaking at a press conference held yesterday by the Asia Pacific Conference on Emerging Technologies. At the conference, co-organized by Hawaii’s East-West Center and the Korea Information Strategy Development Institute, industry figures discussed the “Challenge of the Mobile Revolution and the Digital Divide.” He said the integration of wireless technology into everyday culture in Korea showed new scope for development. “At Coex, I saw artists painting mobile phones. This may not seem so great here, but this kind of personalization will become more important.” He said third generation services in Europe were used largely for work, citing Vodaphone’s high-speed data transmission for laptops. “Business models of the future will depend on universal values and needs. They will not emerge from new economics but from viewing established behaviors in new ways. “In the past, the West thought of Asia as a large market, but one that copied the West. Now, this is not the case,” Mr. McClelland said. “Korea is a telecoms hotspot and the activity in mobile business and experimentation is here. The world is watching.” by Wohn Dong-hee