SK sees 3.5G boost, no China 3G in 2007

By Rhee So-eui and Khettiya Jittapong

SEOUL (Reuters) - SK Telecom Co. (017670.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), South Korea's top mobile operator, said on Wednesday China was unlikely to hand out its third-generation (3G) licenses in 2007, despite talk that they might come later this year.

SK Telecom, which made a $1 billion investment in China Unicom Ltd.'s (0762.HK: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (CHU.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) bonds last year, is eagerly waiting to offer 3G services in China, the world's largest mobile market.

In South Korea, the company expects its high-speed mobile service to boost the average revenue by about 10 percent per each user shifting to the new network.

Asked when SK expected China to give out 3G licenses, Chief Operating Officer Lee Bang-hyung said: "Regarding Chinese 3G, we're hearing market talk that it will likely come after China's national congress in October."

"(However), it is unlikely to be this year," Suh Sung-won, vice president in charge of global business, said at the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in Seoul.

The Chinese congress, expected in October, has a major implication on businesses as well as deciding on leaders of each sector.

Lee expected the users for its upgraded 3G network in South Korea to reach 1.5 million by the end of this year, compared with about 240,000 currently. The company controls more than half of the country's mobile phone market with 20.9 million users at end-April.

SK, which offers services based on CDMA technology, in March launched a nationwide high-speed download packet access (HSDPA) service, an upgrade to 3G W-CDMA network that has developed from the more globally popular GSM standard.  Continued...