SKT signing up 7.5 WiBro users a month, papers say

South Korea’s much vaunted Wireless Broadband (WiBro — 802.16e) technology has failed to make a significant impact on the market in the two months since launch, according to the Hankyoreh Media Company. KT Corp and SK Telecom (SKT) launched the world’s first WiBro services at the end of June, but take-up has been slow due to limited network coverage and stiff competition from high speed cellular services such as 1xEV-DO, W-CDMA and HSDPA. KT has launched the service in high-demand areas in Seoul and its outskirts, including Sinchon, Gangnam-gu, Seocho-gu, Songpa-gu, Bundang and along the Bundang subway line. It aims to cover all of Seoul and its surrounding cities by early next year. SKT is offering WiBro in six areas in Seoul, including the campuses of Yonsei University, Korea University and Hanyang University. Hankyoreh says that KT had signed up only 479 WiBro customers by the end of August, while SKT had lured a mere 15.

WiBro operates in the 2.3GHz band and its developers are looking to market the home grown technology as a more mobile version of WiMAX (802.16), offering similar capabilities but with added mobility and theoretical maximum data rates of up to 50Mbps at a range of up to 5km. The initial rollout of services offers internet speeds of between 1Mbps and 3Mbps at up to 120km per hour within a 1km radius.