Mobile carriers to provide universal instant messengers

SEOUL, Jan. 9 (Yonhap) -- Mobile carriers are to provide universal instant
messengers within the first half of the year, officials at one of the companies
said Thursday.
Mobile phone users, regardless of the telecom service they subscribe to, will be
able to send and receive instant messages on mobile devices, said an official at
KTF Co., South Korea's second largest telecom service provider.
"Each mobile carrier is currently offering an instant messenger available only
within its own network," said Lee Hyun-duk, a PR official at the company. "The
companies are now working on interlocking the instant messaging services."
Lee said that the exact date for the service launch is not set and is expected to
be in the first half of 2009.
South Korea's mobile market is shared by three mobile operators -- SK Telecom
Co., KTF Co. and LG Telecom Ltd.
SK Telecom, the country's leading telecom service provider, stands at 51 percent
in terms of market shares, followed by KTF with 32 percent and LG Telecom with 18
percent, according to the government data.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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