HSDPA a big hit in South Korea

Senior Analyst, Suran Seong comments, “With the deployment of HSDPA, we believe that stagnated mobile data services will start to appeal to the mass market. The increasing penetration of HSDPA handsets, enhanced network capability and heavy marketing campaigns are driving up mobile data usage. In addition, LGT's launch of CDMA EV-DO Revision A is likely to accelerate the pricing decline. SKT and KTF have marketed mobile data as a premium service, but LGT is likely to compete on price, which the two market leaders have been trying to avoid.” Ovum says WCDMA operators are marketing global roaming, video calls, USIM-based new applications and mobile Internet access as the main mobile applications for HSDPA. While global roaming is expected to generate substantial new revenue streams, video calls are likely to be more of a marketing tool than a new revenue source. “We believe wireless broadband may generate some additional revenues, but it will be limited to a niche segment due to a highly competitive wired broadband environment.