SEOUL -
Hanaro Telecom Co, South Korea's second-largest
broadband Internet service provider, said on Thursday it
will start selling a new service that ties its
high-speed Internet and Web-based telephony to cable
television services.
Starting in July, Hanaro will
begin offering the "bundle" of services under an
alliance with nationwide cable TV operator Joongang MSO,
Hanaro said in a statement.
While details of the
plan are still unspecified, Hanaro said customers can
expect to subscribe to the three services with a single
service provider under the Hanaro brand.
Via the
single subscription, the customers can get the cheaper
rates, Hanaro said.
"Under the tie-up, we
[Hanaro] will focus on developing profitable business
models", said Yoon Kyung-lim, head of Hanaro's marketing
division.
The announcement came at the
height of a marketing war between South Korea's broadband Internet
operators and cable TV service providers.
In South Korea's saturated broadband market, where
more than two-thirds of all homes are connected to
high-speed Internet services, cable TV operators also
sell broadband services with cheaper prices. They have taken a
chunk out of the market shares of conventional operators
such as KT Corp and Hanaro Telecom.
Hanaro,
taken over by American International Group Inc and
Newbridge Capital Ltd last November, has shifted its
focus to boosting profits rather than catching up with
rival KT.
As of April, KT had 5.5 million
broadband Internet subscribers, while Hanaro had around
3 million, according to monthly government figures.
(Asia Pulse/Yonhap)
May 28, 2004
No
material from Asia Times Online may be republished in any form without written
permission.
Copyright
2003, Asia Times Online, 4305 Far East Finance Centre, 16 Harcourt Rd,
Central, Hong Kong
