Leading South Korean operators, SK Telecom (SKT) and KT Freetel (KTF), have signed an agreement with Korea’s Ministry of Communications to launch HSDPA services by March 2006. The commercial launch of HSDPA services is expected to boost demand for 3G services following the disappointing uptake of the WCDMA offerings of both operators. Both SKT and KTF introduced WCDMA in December 2003, but poor coverage and weak handset portfolios stumped the growth of these offerings. As a result, both operators had only around 1,500 WCDMA subscribers each as of end-March 2005. Samsung and LG Electronics will supply equipment while Qualcomm is expected to supply HSDPA chipsets to the operators.
