Samsung Provides WCDMA Technology to KT ICOM

date: September 28, 2001

Samsung Electronics said it has provided 3G mobile service equipment to KT ICOM, a subsidiary of state-run Korea Telecom, marking the first deal that will ratchet up competition among telecom gear makers.

Samsung said the equipment is designed for KT ICOM's BMT (benchmarking test), saying the deal suggests the company's ahead of the game in commercializing W-CDMA equipment. Samsung was said to be lagging behind in the race for W-CDMA 3G equipment commercialization, but such perception proved wrong, Samsung said in a statement. Korea Telecom and SK Telecom received the 3G service license last December, both of which will use W-CDMA technology favored by NTT DoCoMo of Japan and Nokia of Finland.

Samsung has so far supplied CDMA equipment to local mobile carriers, as Korea adopted Qualcomm's wireless technology rather than the European mode known as GSM. But Samsung started working on W-CDMA gears in 1997 and launched a full-fledged development drive for W-CDMA-based 3G equipment in October, 1999. While core technologies for CDMA came from Qualcomm, Samsung developed commercial gears such as base station modems and handset modems for W-CDMA standard on our own, Samsung said.

The company said it has invested 200 billion won into the project and 700 researchers both at home and abroad joined the development. The equipment is based on Release 4 and Release 5 versions, making it easy to upgrade later. Other companies to supply BMT equipment to KT ICOM include LG Electronics, Ericsson, Mercury-Nortel Networks. KT ICOM plans to launch a commercial 3G service in October, 2002, and buy 3G equipment valued at 400 billion won. Korea's 3G service providers based on W-CDMA are estimated to buy equipment worth 2.46 trillion won over the five-year time frame of commercial services.

Top Sellers at our online store

1.	NEC e606 on 3
2.	Orange Nokia 7250i
3.	O2 Samsung A800
4.	NEC e808 on 3
5.	Motorola A920 on 3

last updated: January 12, 2004

Visit our online store, click here

3 phones

3G Motorola A920
Available Now! Superb full colour touch- sensitive screen with a built-in digital camera for Video Calling.
Buy now from Free

M-Profits: Making Money from 3G Services
ISBN: 0470847751

This book discusses 3G services from the view of what is needed for the service to provide value to the user, what is the value proposition for the user, how will money be made out of delivering the service, and discussions on how revenue sharing propositions might work to benefit content providers and network operators. 3G operators should take note of this highly recommended book.

buy it UK | USA

3G Books to Read!

top