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Korea's WiBro
Is WiBro a success or a failure ?
According to some news sources, Korea Telecom's WiBro (which stands for Wireless Broadband) will be expanding its service to cover all parts of Seoul including subway lines. WiBro is Korea's WiMAX compatible wireless internet platform. The service provides users with approximately 1-3 Mbps and mobility of up to 120kph.
What troubles me is when the WiBro service was introduced back in June of 2006, KT only got 1,000 customers in the first six months. This is most disappointing to say the least. One would expect consumers' to line up for such a service, which provides wireless connectivity on the go. The problem may lie in the marketing methods used and promoted by Korea Telecom.
Zain Y. Shah
It might also have to do with under-performing handsets
Posted by
Ram Viswanathan
at
2007-04-25 01:22 AM
Battery life on WiMAX/WiBro handsets and devices are pathetic with the current chipsets. That might also have something to do with the lack of uptake.
I wrote a post about this exactly a month before Zain here: http://a.livelymind.in/blog/2007/03/20/lost-amidst-the-hype-around-wimax-south-koreans-are-snubbing-wimaxwibro/
I wrote a post about this exactly a month before Zain here: http://a.livelymind.in/blog/2007/03/20/lost-amidst-the-hype-around-wimax-south-koreans-are-snubbing-wimaxwibro/
What about CPE prices
Posted by
Angel Alvarado
at
2007-04-27 11:54 AM
This is more a question than anything else because I don't have the information, but end user devices (or CPEs) price is an important fact you'd need to consider. Anyone knows the prices? Maybe if they are too high, it's the barrier to mass adoption.
Nobody can say about success or not!
The key to sucess is how KT attract potential users to eager to such mobile internet access service. Currently, Wibro is not different with existing WCDMA/HSDPA service in terms of service quality and usage even though KT expect all will be better soon.
But, the important thing is any service method/standard cannot overwhelm others completely and they all should be harmonized to meet on-time requirement in case-by-case manner. Of course, Wimax/Wibro is more advantageous in IP compatibility/service area/mobility than others like Wifi/Cellura.
My view to Wibro is "Wait to mature but not much expectation" and "Something are in need to cover all neighbor access ways(Wi-Fi,Cellular)".