SK Telecom plans to invest 507.2 billion won in building 3G mobile phone networks

SK Telecom plans to invest 507.2 billion won ($490 million) next year in building 3G mobile phone networks that use a European standard. The company will invest in WCDMA systems and networks in 84 cities around the country. Separately, second-ranked KT Freetel (KTF) also plans to invest 350 billion won to build WCDMA networks next year. In December 2003, SKT and KTF launched commercial operations of WCDMA technology in Seoul and its neighbouring areas. As of September 14, 2005, however, SKT and KTF reportedly had 3,896 and 909 subscribers respectively for WCDMA services.