Korea IMT-2000 consortium to be disbanded

The Korea IMT-2000 consortium is expected to officially announce its breakup next week.

With three IMT-2000 business licenses up for grabs, the departure of Korea IMT-2000 has put an end to the race, as only three consortiums remain - Korea Telecom, SK Telecom and LG Telecom. The only issue to be settled now is which consortium will select the synchronous system. The Korea IMT-2000 consortium, led by Hanaro Telecom, Onse Telecom and PICCA, held a management committee meeting to discuss plans to form tie-ups with Korea Telecom, SK Telecom and LG Telecom. The disbanding will be officially announced at a meeting slated for August 22.

The decision to dissolve the Korea IMT-2000 Consortium was made as member companies started to show intentions of leaving the group. In view of the government¡¯s selection criterion, which states that a consortium has to be organized, the abandonment of its members would seriously undermine its bid for the IMT-2000 license. Hence, companies belonging to the group are expected to each join hands with one of the three existing consortiums. As of now, the most likely scenario is Korea Telecom-Onse Telecom, SK Telecom-PICCA and LG-Hanaro.