20061222

Is SKT's MelOn-opoly MP3 game over ?

One day SK Telecom is fined 3.8 billion wons for illegal subsidies and the next 330 million for anticoncurrencial behavior in the mobile music field (these days KRW 1,000 = about EUR 0.827 or USD 1.090).
Even ten times lower, the second punition could be most bitter to swallow : if "subsidies" were a simple breach of clearly written rules (decision by Korea Communications Commission), market dominance demanded a much more complex analysis and reached a much higher level (decision by the Fair Trade Commission). In any case, two blows in a row cannot be considered good news.
The KCC gave SKT 60 days to allow the subscribers to his service to play MP3 files downloaded from other providers.
As seen earlier in these columns, MelOn is Korea's favorite flavor in the juicy market of mobile music, with millions of subscribers paying 5,000 wons a month to download from their mobile phone as well as from the web. Yet, it gives SKT the music major a 60.2% market share on the mobile music market which is only slightly over that of SKT the mobile operator. This isn't what I would call a MelOnopoly. But from the "customer share"'s point of view.
SKT appears to be eventually experiencing the drawbacks of its pervasive strategy, and may not remain free of entering any given market without assuming the burdens of his leadership in mobility. At home at least.
On the other hand, compelled to open up its entertainment / financial / you name it activities could lead it towards even higher ambitions.



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