5G Korea, Huawei inside

According to Pulse and other media*, Huawei will open next month its first 5G Open Lab in the world in Seoul.

Of course, earlier this month, Korea became the first country in the world to launch 5G commercially (even if for enterprise customers only at the beginning). Korea Inc precipitated the launch just to achieve that premiere, SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+ literally beating Verizon on the eleventh hour.

If local MNOs don't communicate much on their 5G network suppliers, Huawei already holds significant positions in Korea, as a recent Asan Institute focus** noticed:
- LG U+'s 4G network in Seoul, Northern Gyeonggi-do, Incheon, and Gangwon-do, in other words its most strategic areas (capital region, and all borders with North Korea)
- parts of Naver's new Internet Data Center
- KT's network upgrade for NonHyeop Bank, a big 4 player

Korea Inc does communicate on a key 5G supplier, Samsung, who clearly won the first round at the smartphone level with its Galaxy S10 5G.

Another of their groundbreaking handsets, the Galaxy Fold, received mixed reviews from the few journalists who were granted one ahead of the official launch, but the manufacturer did warn them that they shouldn't have pulled out the plastic protection away from the delicate screen.

Interesting to see what happens when the veil is lifted about Huawei's presence in the country.


mot-bile 2019

* "Huawei to open its world’s first 5G open lab in Seoul in May" (Pulse 20190422)
** "Opportunities and Challenges for South Korea in the New Era of 5G" (J. James KIM, HONG Sanghwa - Asan Institute 20190321)

Korea's fourth license reload

According to The Korea Herald (May 29), the Korean government is considering reviving the project of a fourth MNO license as part of a plan to stimulate the market.

Is there a need for another 4G network? Korea is well covered with LTE to LTE-A, beefed-up locally through pervasive femtocells and WiFi. And the three incumbents don't want to sit on their laurels: Korea Telecom promised 5G trials for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics, and SK Telecom announced a partnership with Google on augmented reality ("T-AR for Project Tango").

Is there a need for more competition? It depends on the profile of the new player, and the impacts on a M-VNO ecosystem that, at long last, is biting into a pie still dominated by SK Telecom, Korea Telecom, and LG U+.

According to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP), M-VNOs were claiming a 8.8% market share as of April 21 (up from 2.9% in June 2012), thanks to prices on average 57% cheaper than the MNOs.

But it's not as if you had one fourth player with a 8.8% market share, big enough to contest the leaders on more profitable segments. Today, Korea has 27 M-VNOs, most struggling to make their first profit, and likely to never see it. Significantly, their number of subscribers started to explode when they targeted more discount-seeking audiences (the youth, Chinese migrant workers...).

A perennial candidate for the 4th spot is actually a consortium of M-VNOs: KMI (Korea Mobile Internet) revived their candidacy in October 2013, and defending the existing M-VNO ecosystem could be a stronger argument today. In December 2011, the Korea Communications Commission not only rejected KMI's bid, but also that of IST (Internet Space Time lost the backing of Hyundai Group at a critical moment). Note that the KCC also canceled the auction for the WiBro spectrum. I explained a few months earlier ("A Kbiz MNO ? SMEs vs Korea Inc") how the attempt by the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses (Kbiz) to enter the market looked more like a lobbying stunt to push WiBro.

A much bigger fish could also seek the fourth license, with more brand power. Typically, CJ Group is already a major player in telecom, IPTV, or multimedia contents. It has the money to invest on new networks (Daum Kakao or Naver would need serious backing), the customer bases to leverage, and the contents to fill the pipes..., but don't bet on price wars with fellow chaebol on the juiciest segments. 
 
A true new entrant from overseas? Global MNOs know how difficult it would be in a country where foreign majors are seldom allowed to take or maintain leading positions (see retail for example: Carrefour and Wal-Mart already gone, Tesco on the back seat). But joining a consortium, or creating one remains a rare opportunity for international platforms to push their solutions in an otherwise locked Korean market. And nowadays, the dominant platforms do not necessarily belong to telecom operators...

Anyway, expect more lobbying ahead of the government's guidelines, expected by the end of June.

• See also "Daum Kakao, Google Campus... Korean platforms on steroids", other posts related to innovation in Korea.

mot-bile 2015

* "Consortium to bid for 4th mobile carrier in S. Korea" (Yonhap News - 2013/10/08)

joyn or die? forget about KakaoTalk and Anipang?

Remember last year, when KakaoTalk celebrated its 10 millionth user (see "Kakao Talk of the day")?

Well, 1000 days after launch, the Korean player claims 70 M users in 13 languages, with daily averages of 27 M users, 43 mn per user, and 4.2 billion messages. Even if Skype remains far ahead with its 280 M users (and the support of Microsoft* - whatever that's worth nowadays), Kakao Inc. has already become a global phenomenon  - maybe level 5 on Gangnam Style scale - , and remains as ambitious as ever.

The way Anipang on KakaoTalk turned into an instant hit in the competitive game apps arena** probably scared the heck out of pure players (messaging services, VoIP...), not to mention much bigger netcos, starting at home with Daum and Naver, two giants on the Korean market who've - so far - failed to reach international recognition. Note that Kakao Inc. founder KIM Beom-soo is not an outsider: he created Hangame Communications, Inc., and headed NHN after the merger with Naver.

Even top players are paying attention. Sundaytoyz (Anipang's developer) is not Rovio, and Kakao is not Facebook, but I bet many people in Menlo Park start wondering what kind of value the Kakao platform will aggregate after games. And if Big G can leverage its superiority in searches to boost Google Voice (and counter Apple's Siri), the brand itself is not exactly a success.

Of course, the most nervous of all coopetitors are the MNOs, who see their customers use KakaoTalk for their calls and messages, and their own networks, even LTE-enabled, glogged with that booming data traffic. No wonder all 3 Korean cellcos decided to implement joyn, the GSMA's "Rich Communication Services" platform.

To start with, the "joyn" logo is the perfect anti-KakaoTalk: a double black on yellow speech bubble to counter a single yellow on black speech bubble. And RCS brings what operators who cooperate do best: interoperability. As the GSMA puts it in its sales pitch, the solution "delivers an experience beyond voice and SMS by providing them with instant messaging or chat, live video and file sharing across any device, on any network, with all the enabled contacts in their address book".

That's what cellcos will sell to their endusers - something young, sexy, colorful:

But first, the GSMA must convince its own customers, the MNOs, to implement the solution. Everybody must be on board for the promise to be delivered.

So further down the same page, the sales pitch sounds much more defensive and frigthening:

"Don't lose out to OTT  – stay competitive and innovate with APIs

Your consumers are hungry for access to the entertainment and interaction offered by RCS-based apps. Agile and innovative, Over The Top (OTT) providers are exploiting the massive penetration of Smartphones by developing appealing rich communication apps available at little or no cost to the consumer.

Research conducted by one operator discovered a direct link between the penetration rate of cross-platform messaging services and the reduction of outgoing SMS traffic. Without RCS, the decline of voice messaging is likely to be next, as consumers increasingly engage with alternative IP based voice solutions.

Once consumers start using an OTT app service, that offering becomes, for them, the lead brand for communications services. Operators remain more competitive by responding more rapidly to consumers’ expectations and behaviour, and by using RCS to enhance the value of their network and bring richer calls to their consumers."

And those most dramatic final words: "Act now before it’s too late - Implement RCS today!"

Stop pulling your hair out, try this air lotion and stop the airtime loss. We don't guarantee return of love.

And be quick: the end is nigh.


mot-bile 2012

* see "Skype keeps moving, Google googling"
** over 20 M downloads, only on Android (iOS to follow soon)

NFC goes shopping : live in Seoul

As announced (see "Grand NFC Korea Alliance"), the heart of Myeongdong, a major shopping neighborhood popular among younger generations and Japanese tourists, will be a key test bed for NFC transactions in Korea next month.

This "NFC special district" operation is organized by the KCC (since security is key, the national authority delegated the mission to its KISA unit / Korea Internet Security Agency) and involves all 3 operators (SKT, KT, LGT/LGU+), 9 credit card companies, and key players and enablers listed last June (more are expected soon, particularly in ticketing / couponing applications).

Now for the hard(ware) part ? Terminals are ready on both ends : 100 shops will be equipped with dongles, and enough enduser should be enabled from day one. The NFC payment solution has already been embedded in the Samsung Galaxy S II and other recent models, and rival iPhones can join in thanks to a plug-in developped for Korea Telecom.

Microsoft might join later, but I'm not sure the Samsung Series 7 Slate has already the solution.

mot-bile 2011

A Kbiz MNO ? SMEs vs Korea Inc

The Korea Federation of Small and Medium Businesses (KFSB or Kbiz) wants to join SK Telecom, Korea Tecom and LG U+ (LG Telecom) as Korea's fourth mobile network operator.

This bid looks like a complete joke : a Kbiz-led consortium of 900 small businesses would invest about KRW 100 bn (USD 94 M) in "4G Wibro". How could it succeed where much stronger players failed and where MVNOs themselves cannot thrive* ?

Kbiz claims 2.7 million SMEs, but I don't see this greenfield player take those demanding customers from the big boys.

WiBro, a WMAN technology competing with WiMax, remains a Koreano-Korean thing with a convenient 4G label. Typically, KT is advertising about their "4G WiBro" coverage as SKT launches its LTE as the "real 4G", but eventually all 3 MNOs will implement LTE. Note that KT is also willing to close its 2G CDMA networks and proposing nice 3G/4G plans to die hard users, some of which have been keeping prehistoric handsets because of unbeatable unlimited rates.

Kbiz needs Samsung to propose WiBro, and that could be the actual aim of the game : not the candidacy to a license, but the PR operation behind the announcement.

Samsung is the ultimate chaebol, the perfect symbol of those almighties who rule over Korean economy and are often blamed for the weakness of the nation's SME ecosystem. Worse : they create their own SMEs to benefit from pro-SME incentives and suck even more value from the market. Even LEE Myung-bak, the CEO president who came from Hyundai Engineering and Construction, is campaigning about a 'fair society' where chaebols would allow small fish to survive.

I don't know if Kbiz will really go all the way, or if Samsung will pretend to play their game for image's sake... but Korean market remains fun to observe.

mot-bile 2011

* see "Korea : Onse Telecom wants to be a MVNO", "Korea Telecom signs the country's first MVNOs"...

Apple heart(break)s Samsung

Copycats. That's how Apple sees iPhone / iPad rivals. The main culprit and market share holder with its Galaxy lines, Samsung would have infringed no less than 10 patents, 2 trademarks, and 3 trade dress. As much as it hates suing a good client (Apple devices scream "Samsung Inside" from many angles), Samsung will file a counter-suit for less specific motives.

Nokia, HTC, or Motorola also have two-way legal battles with Cupertino, who also faces lawsuits from H-W Technology, or Robocast.

It's like a poke game : sue me ? suits me: I poke back. Forget hardware, OS, platform, or app wars : lawyer layer's all the rage now, and that's where innovation will come from...

Speaking of upgrades : LTE will be commercialized in July 2011 by SK Telecom and LG U+. Korea Telecom will follow suit (no lawyer needed) the following year : if they haven't decided yet with which infrastructure, they can until then rely on a strong nationwide Wifi presence to absorb the smartphone boom (unlimited wireless data plans include free access to Nespot). LG Telecom is probably eager to switch as quickly as possible to a more universal technology than the CDMA allowed by its own 3G license.

4G in SK ? 3G in NK ! On the other side of the DMC, North Korea's mobile market keeps booming : 430,000 subs EOY 2010, not much for a 24 M strong country, but quite big for a place with so few strong people. Mobility reaches far beyond the first nomenklatura circles : this is the place where not so long ago, only a few priviledged people were allowed to have a radio, locked on official frequencies. Here, suits to be feared are less of the law than of the military kind.

mot-bile 2011

IPTV in Korea (continued) - until really Smart TV takes over

Yet another update for Korean IPTV*. The market is nearing its second birthday, and the 3M subscribers mark : 2.93M as of December the 5th, according to the regulator (Korea Communications Commission).

Leader KT claims more than half of the pie (1.64M), with SKT a distant second (0.691M), and LGT - now U+ - not far behind (0.597M).

Nice, but not that impressive considering the wide adoption of broadband in the country. But as we saw before, the only 3 IPTV operators have faced many regulatory hurdles... which they deserved as the only 3 mobile network operators.

Note that this trio / kartel created SPOTV, a common channel to lock the rights for major sports. They were probably scared by the SBS revolution in the broadcasting arena : for the first time in the country, one network snatched exclusive rights for major sports events, the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.

But I guess they are furthermore unwilling to enter a costly war which could also hurt IPTV as a whole. IPTV now claims 30% of digital pay-TV and seriously undermined their cableco rivals, but competition remains fierce, and one new major player will soon modify the broadcasting landscape: now allowed to enter the race, all major press groups are competing for new TV licenses. For the general channel license, Maeil Business Newspaper, Korea Economic Daily and Taekwang Group have little chance against the local giants : JoongAng Media Group, Chosun Ilbo, and Dong-A Ilbo. For the news-only channel, Yonhap faces CBS, Seoul Shinmun, MoneyToday, and Herald Media.

And IPTV set top boxes are already passe : Smart TVs are all the rage, with their handfuls of apps. The next big thing. They're actually quite cool, but you can't even check your email with them. Except of course by coupling these smart monitors with smarter devices.


mot-bile 2010

* see previous episodes, including "IPTV and VoIP in Korea : an update" and "IPTV in Korea: an update"

Smartphone Overloads and Tablet Scares

Korean operators are just beginning to "enjoy" the dark side of their honeymoon with smartphones : capacity issues. This as smartphone penetration remains relatively low (about 5 M users), and data-guzzling tablets loom on very close horizon (Samsung Galaxy, Apple iPad...).

MNOs can't say they weren't warned : they've been waging a war to secure as many hotspots as possible, rolling out WiFi, Wibro, and all you can eat fiber networks to prevent data overloads.

What puzzles me is the commercial war that accelerated wireless data network saturation this summer : non existent before, unlimited data offers have taken over the country and right now, every other smartphone user subscribes to these proven networkphobic plans. Furthermore and as we saw earlier (see "VoIP over 3G, unlimited data... SK Telecom victim of the summerheat wave ?"), the ones who ignited the war were no others than the ones who risked the most : market leaders SK Telecom. Needless to say, #2 KT soon followed suit, causing #3 LG U+ (formerly LG Telecom) to join the suicical party short afterwards.

Short term vision 101 ? On the brighter side, this madness may help next gen networks bloom even earlier : Korea already targets 1 Gbps and 10 Gbps for mobile and fixed data by 2012.

mot-bile 2010

Korea Telecom signs the country's first MVNOs

A decade after other countries, Korea is discovering the charms of MVNOhood.

Korea Telecom signed 3 partnerships - a classic mix indeed :
- voice-centric Free Telecom (prepaid offers)
- data-centric EverGreen Mobile (EGMobile)
- entertainment-oriented Entaz (mobile games)

Partnerships were clinched via KTF DoCoMo Mobile and the Fast Incubation Center (FIC), the new unit in charge of stimulating the ecosystem around the company, including a Smart Open Forum.

"Open", but to a certain point : none of the first 3 MVNOs is a big name, even in its own field. Bigger fishes were kept at bay, like ONSE Telecom who, as we saw earlier, was a more than outspoken candidate. It rather looks like the perfect alibi for the regulator, and a convenient training ground for new processes and business models : wider "openings" will be requiered, and KT wants to remain competitive at the international level.

Rivals SK Telecom and LG Telecom will probably follow a similar path. I wouldn't expect from the leader a disruptive deal with a flamboyant player... unless of course the said player is a in-house spinoff in disguise (ie MelOn or another multimedia brand, and a business-centric package.


mot-bile 2010

On Your Mark, Get Set, Go

The day after Steve Balmer shook hands with Lee Sang-chul to celebrate a strategic partnership in cloud computing between Microsoft and LG U+ (formerly LG Telecom), Google's Andy Rubin and SK Telecom's Bae Joon-dong did the same over Android Market, to boost the Korean developer ecosystem around the robot version of Shrek (this green Android oger has layers too, beyond the OS stage).

Significantly, the deal was at the CEO level for Korea's #3 MNO and at the VP level for the leader.

Steve Jobs didn't need to show up in Korea, where the Apple-KT partnership ignited much delayed smartphone boom (see previous episodes). Furthermore, he wouldn't be welcomed these days : the war of words between Apple and Samsung has turned nasty in the UK, where the latter countered repeated attacks by the former with a comparative ad in spite of specific orders from Seoul headquarters : Samsung is certainly a major competitor to the iPhone (half a million Samsung Galaxy S sold during the first month), but also a major provider for Apple.

If the Microsoft / Number 3 model is a classic, the Google-SK Telecom deal could prove a game changer in a country where the 3 major operators dominate too much the value chain / value cloud for app providers to multiply, thrive, and become global players.

But overall, between Microsoft, Apple, and Google, Korea Inc somehow confirms its return into the US Inc technosphere of influence.

Korea Telecom's idea of diversification ? Setting up KT Estate, a real estate arm, to manage its already impressive assets : 30% of revenues last year !

mot-bile 2010

Korea : Nexus One in June, more robust networks in sight

Korea Telecom announced Google's Nexus One (HTC on Android FroYo) for June 2010.

Since Samsung preempted the green android territory and even protected the brand for handsets*, KT will have to find a different angle.

June, World Cup, Frozen Yoghurt... expect something fresher for this smartphone / app phone. Patbingsu style.

KT claimed its 700,000th iPhone sold in May, and boosted wireless data traffic by 17.5 in Q1 2010 vs Q1 2009. Q2 should be much more impressive as smartphones rise on track with 5M units sold by EOY 2010.

And 3D TV is becoming a reality (also on time for the FIFA World Cup), 3D is bound to pop up on Korean mobile phones as soon as possible. It's a matter of pride for Samsung and LG, it's also a priority for local authorities who are planning the country for very very high speed broadband.

That's for 2013. But mobile network capacity will become critical much earlier, even with LTE, and Korea's dominant operators (SKT and KT) are intensifying their aggressive race for WiFi hotspots.

mot-bile 2010

* see "KT claims 500,000 iPhones"

IPTV and VoIP in Korea : an update

Since our last update last August (see "IPTV in Korea: an update"), Korea's IPTV market has almost tripled and is claiming 1.729 M subscribers EOY 2009 :

KT : 1,010,000 subs (58.4% market share vs 46% in July)
SKT : 403,000 (MS: 23.3% vs 22%)
LGT : 316,000 (MS: 18.2% vs 32%)

Even if all 3 players can leverage on their mobile bases, mobile leader SKT is not reducing the gap with KT, who benefits from an earlier start in / a better culture of convergence. Furthermore, SKT's "T" brand lags behind to the popular "Cook + Show" package in fun factor (reminder : Show is KT's 3G W-CDMA brand and Cook it's nth umbrella brand for fixed line services). LG Telecom is unfortunately more successful in converging towards its own mobile market share (around 16%).

But LGT's IPTV base keeps growing, and the group (via LG DaCom) remains the leader in the (also at last) booming VoIP market (sce Yonhap) :

LGT : 71.1% market share EOY 2008 (1.202 M subs), 42.7% EOY 2009 (2.140 M), 26.9% over 2009 (net gain : + 0.938 M)
KTF : 19.4% market share EOY 2008 (0.328 M subs), 32.9% EOY 2009 (1.700 M), 39.4% over 2009 (net gain : + 1.372 M)
SKT : 9.5% market share EOY 2008 (0.160 M subs), 33.6% EOY 2009 (1.330 M), 33.6% over 2009 (net gain : + 1.170 M)
Total : 5.17 M vs 1.69 M (+ 3.48 M)

Cablecos must wonder what Korea's 3 MNOs will leave to them EOY 2010 (KT boasted only 16,000 IPTV customers EOY 2008). On the other hand, MNO success in fixed access may help M-VNO candidates (such as Onse Telecom, as we saw earlier) make their cases.


mot-bile 2010