Telecommunications In Korea Essays - Verizon Communications, Chaebol

Telecommunications In Korea INTRODUCTION Telecommunications is a tool providing information services to both private and public sectors. It is highly involved in society and helps a society grow and flourish. It affects the ideals and trends of a society and, thus, is a very important factor in a growing country. With an area of 99,019 square kilometers, and a current population of 44.6 million people, the Republic of Korea is a great challenge to connect through telecommunication tools and projects. Even with such a great expanse of land and peoples, Korea has succeeded in becoming the eighth most advanced country in telecommunications. There are 337 telephones per 1000 people with an annual growth rate of 15.6% for residential subscribers, 10.1 % for commercial subscribers and 245 for leased line data services. Thus, the question of how Korea accomplished this in just a little over a decade comes to mind. In this paper, I will give an overview of the developments of the Korean telecommunications industry. Then through other literary sources along with the telecommunications background information, I will show how the Korean Governments practice of deregulation and liberalization has spurred on competition and, henceforth, progress in the Korean telecommunications industry. CHAPTER 1: History of Telecommunications The first form of telecommunications in Korea began in 1885 with the first telegraph which linked Seoul and Inchon which were located 35 km apart. The periods of telecommunication development can be divided into three stages. In the first stage, 1885 to 1961, there was limited telegraph and telephone service available. They were mainly for official business service. The Japanese occupation from 1910 to 1945 and the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 stagnated telecommunication progress (Lee et.al 1). Only 120,000 telephone lines were installed in this period, supplying a minimal fraction of 0.4 phones per 100 persons. In the second stage, 1962 to 1981, significant progress in telecommunications occurred. The government improved basic communications facilities by connecting rural areas by phone and by creating training centers for telecommunication employees to keep the phone lines running smoothly. Telephone subscriber lines increased to 4.1 million lines offering 8.4 phones per 100 people. More importantly, long-distance telephone calling circuits were boosted from 1,177 to 88,571 circuits, while international calling circuits were increased from 12 to 274 (Lee, et. al 2). During this period, the government installed the micro-wave network in 1967 and the scatter transmission network between Japan and Korea in 1968. The first two satellite earth stations were built during this period. In addition, a coaxial cable was installed to bring an automatic telephone call service between major cities. In 1979, the electronic switching system (ESS) was introduced to aid with the increasing number of phone subscriptions. The third stage, occurring from 1982 to the present, illustrates a huge and dynamic change in the telecommunications industry. First, in 1982 to 1986 an addition of 6.2 telephone lines were installed. Within this period, the participation of Korea in the Asian Games and the 1988 Olympics placed telecommunications at a high demand. With the 10th Asian Games in 1986, an integrated automatic switching system was introduced. The capability to install telephones immediately upon request became available. The 1988 Olympics brought the idea of launching Korea's own satellite in mind. Although a satellite was not launched during this period, it made the idea more of a future plan. Government Policies and Telecommunication Companies The development of Korea's information society cannot be separated from the development of the Korean government policies. This is because all telecommunication sources were once controlled by the Korean government. Then as years went on, the government loosened its reigns for other private and publicly owned companies to develop telecommunication products which they could themselves market. This decrease in government control resulted to a more competitive environment where progress prospered. In the early 1980's, the Korean government Ministry of Communications (MOC) restructured the public telecommunications sector which led to the transfer of government operated telecommunications to a public corporation, Korea Telecommunication Authority (KTA) (Seo 154). Later in 1982, telecommunication powers were also given to a private company entitled the Data Communications Corporation of Korea (DACOM). This was a turning point for the telecommunications industry. Now the government did not have total control over the industry. More importantly, later