Dominant wireless company eyes China, Vietnam, U.S.

SK Telecom, the largest mobile service provider in Korea, said yesterday that the number of its subscribers surpassed 20 million for the first time since it launched its wireless communications business. As of Saturday, the carrier had 20,001,555 subscribers, it said in a statement. SK Telecom, which started its analog mobile services in 1984, expanded into enhanced code division multiple access (CDMA) operation a decade ago, which digitalized mobile phone service. As of the end of August, SK Telecom had a 50.5 percent market share, followed by KTF with 32 percent (13 million subscribers) and LG Telecom with 17.3 percent, according to the companies. Facing saturation in the local market, SK Telecom said it is also stepping up its efforts to expand into overseas markets, opening its service in China, Vietnam and the United States. The company had 5 million subscribers in 1998, but numbers doubled in 1999 and rose to 15 million in 2002. Currently, there are about 27 companies globally that have more than 20 million aggregate subscribers to CDMA and GSM services. Eight of them are Asian, including SK Telecom. Operators such as Vodafone and Telefonica have over 100 million subscribers. by Wohn Dong-hee