At a neon-lit shop in Seoul's bustling Chongno district, Kim Kyong-sun bought her second cellular telephone in six months.
"It's like a must-have ornament. You keep buying a new model to keep up with the trend," said Kim, a university student. "The phones are getting lighter, smaller and prettier, with new features like a bigger color screen."
Millions of young customers like Kim are key to the success of a cutting edge digital wireless technology being deployed by South Korea's three aggressive mobile carriers.
While most of the world may wait years for the arrival of the mobile Internet, South Korea's CDMA2000 1X service offers an early glimpse into the future of "third generation," or 3G, wireless communication. While 3G technology uses a high bandwidth to provide high-speed Internet links to the cellphone, 1X service tries to perform some of 3G's simpler stunts at lesser speeds, using the existing system.
Toting the snazzy handsets, youngsters download short video clips, games and songs while checking e-mails and stock prices, booking tickets, locating restaurants or reading news highlights.
Speeds are not what the carriers promise, and consumers complain of spotty connections as the companies try to upgrade their networks. Those attempting to download video complain that images on the handset's color display are grainy like the screen of an old television.
But in subways and cozy cafes in Seoul, young people often peer into their cellphone screens, downloading cartoon characters and playing games.
The latest obsession is mobile Internet chatting. Dubbed a "thumb tribe," the high-tech youths use two thumbs to type on the small key pad.
"We are confident that the new service is taking off," said Pyo Hyun-myung, vice president for planning and coordination at KTF, South Korea's second-largest mobile operator, which rolled out the 1X service in May. "For many Koreans, especially young people, having a new model cellphone is a matter of prestige."
KTF, SK Telecom and LG Telecom recently bought a 1.3 trillion won (US$1 billion) government license to build wireless networks that can stream video and audio at speeds of up to 2.4 megabits per second, promising cellphone users the quality of Internet access they have come to expect from high-speed desktop computers.
But the 3G network will not be up and running until late next year or early the year after.
Earlier this month, Japan's NTT DoCoMo started an early version of 3G wireless service at speeds of up to 384. KDDI Corp, another Japanese mobile carrier, plans to roll out CDMA2000 1X in April.
In Europe, companies spent billions of dollars in a bidding war for 3G wireless licenses, but they have been slow to develop phones and services. Many operators found themselves buried in debt amid a global market slowdown.
In the interim, South Korean mobile carriers have upgraded their existing networks, based on the San Diego-based Qualcomm Inc's technology, to support the CDMA2000 1X video-on-demand phones at speeds of up to 144kbps.
In reality, the speeds remain at 60 to 80kbps.
"Minus the speed, the technology is already 3G," said Pyo of KTF.
Since 1X is a simple upgrade on their existing network, the carriers consider it a quick and cheap way to get consumers hooked on the wonders of 3G wireless technology. Critics accuse the carriers of prematurely packing the cellphones with new features to wring profits from their old network.
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