While the iPhone deal did not work out for KTF’s Japanese partners NTT DoCoMo, things are looking much brighter for Korea’s KTF subscribers. Originally the plan was to bring a joint venture for the iPhone to reach Korea and Japan as they did with the LG Wine in the past. This time, Softbank made sure that it would be the carrier of choice for Apple’s iPhone in Japan, leaving NTT DoCoMo in the dust (for now). While Korean Telecom Freetel (KTF) is looking for it’s own deal with Apple to be the carrier of choice for Korea, the definitive agreement has not been met between Apple and itself. Unfortunately as much as KTF wants to add the iPhone to its portfolio of cell phones, technical issues are plaguing the deal. Apparently there are technical issues in question related to iPhone’s Safari browser and the necessity for a local wireless Internet platform to be built around it. On a side note we have also heard reports that Apple is double dipping by speaking with SK Telecom (another WCDMA provider) in Korea for a possible iPhone launch on their network.
With only a few days before the 3g iPhone announcement (iPhone 2.0 / iPhone version 2.0) we hope that a deal can materialize between KTF and Apple. Whether SK Telecom can squeak out a deal before KTF and Apple can come to an agreement remains to be seen, but in either case Korea will be seeing the iPhone this year in 3g fashion. These technical issues between KTF and Apple remind us way too much of the BlackBerry issues between RIM and India, but let’s hope for a quick fix and less headaches.
{ 0 comments… add one now }