SK Telecom service users seem now to be able to enjoy mobile Internet service that allows data and video transmission two to ten times faster that was previously available.

Starting September 1, SK Telecom begins cdma2000 1x pilot service for the first time in the world in the Seoul Metropolitan area. The company held a ceremony to demonstrate the new service at its Borame building yesterday with Vice President Moon Su Pyo and other executives attending.

At the ceremony, the company successfully demonstrated video transmission using a PDA and the data transmission speed of 144Kbps, two to ten times faster than that of the existing IS-95A/B system. The new cdma2000 1x technology is known to support a wide range of multimedia contents including television, movies and electronic commerce.

Se Hyung Oh, the head of SK Telecom?s Manufacturing Strategy Team, said, ?We decided to roll out the service earlier than originally scheduled in order to effectively meet with the demand for mobile Internet service increasing very rapidly.? And ?We expect that approximately 3 million people will subscribe to this service by the year 2003.?

The company will expand the service from the current Seoul and Inchon areas to include 23 major cities nationwide in a short period of time.

In addition, it will make an additional 500-billion-won investment to further expand the service into 79 major cities nationwide by the end of next year