Homegrown WiBro gets exported to Middle East

Korea-developed, fourth-generation, wireless Internet technology will launch in the Middle East for the first time later this month.

SK Telesys, the SK Group’s mobile communication equipment unit, said yesterday that it will export $7 million worth of WiBro equipment including Web infrastructure to Jordan.

With this, Jordan wireless telecommunications company Kulacom Jordan will start WiBro service in the country’s capital, Amman, starting May 20. The company also plans to provide various value-added services including voice over Internet protocol, Internet protocol TV and online games using WiBro to Bahrain and Turkey.

“The Middle East is barren in telecommunications infrastructure and Korean technology is being acknowledged there for its high quality. We plan to aggressively market in other areas as well,” said Park Hark-joon, head of SK Telesys.

WiBro is expanding its market share in North America, Japan and Southeast Asia. U.S.-based Clearwire Corp. started providing WiBro service to the eastern part of the U.S. last September, after buying related supplies from Samsung Electronics. The company plans to provide WiBro to 80 U.S. cities by 2010.

Also, KT is providing WiBro service to Uzbekistan. According to marketing firm ABI Research, the market for WiBro equipment globally will expand to $16.1 billion at the end of this year, compared to last year’s $3.5 billion. At present the service is in competition with the Long Term Evolution service supported by companies such as Nokia and LG Electronics.

Experts say that WiBro technology is around four years ahead of LTE.

By Kim Chang-woo [jainnie@joongang.co.kr]