Broadband development in South Korea: institutional and cultural factors
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Broadband development in South Korea: institutional and cultural factors Jyoti Choudrie1 and Heejin Lee2 1 Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University, Uxbridge, U.K.; 2 Department of Information Systems, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia.
Correspondence: Jyoti Choudrie, Department of Information Systems and Computing, Brunel University, St. Johns Building, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, U.K. Tel: þ 44 1895 274000 extn 3769 Fax: þ 44 1895 251686; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract This paper is about the broadband development in South Korea (henceforth Korea). Korea is considered to be a world leader in this field. Based on various sources including a study trip to Seoul that took place in July 2002, the reasons for this success are offered in this paper. The purpose of the study trip was to investigate how Korea achieved such a relatively fast penetration rate in a time span of approximately 4 years. Using documentary secondary data such as, written documents published materials, and primary data, such as interviews, the paper explores and presents the factors contributing to this development. The factors covered include government leadership, fierce competition, low prices due to the competition, cultural aspects, and geographic and demographic aspects. Although some strategies and success factors are Korea specific, there are general lessons that can be drawn. Anyone considering the deployment of broadband and other future innovations will benefit from this investigation into the successful strategies undertaken in Korea. European Journal of Information Systems (2004) 13, 103–114. doi:10.1057/palgrave.ejis.3000494 Keywords: broadband; Korea; government leadership; competition; geographic aspects; demographic aspects
Received: 29 November 2002 Revised: 11 April 2003 2nd Revision: 1 September 2003 Accepted: 6 April 2004
Broadband is a significant evolutionary step since the emergence of the internet, providing end-users with fast ‘always on’ access to new services, applications and content with real lifestyle and productivity benefits (Sawyer et al., 2003). However, the move to broadband requires a massive investment in new networks and infrastructure as well as the development of new content, services, applications and business models to achieve a return on investment. The economic significance of broadband can be put into context by referring to similar changes in national infrastructures, such as road, rail, electricity and voice telephony. Each of these infrastructures transformed the economic activity for firms and citizens, and enabled new activities to develop, and provided nations with the ability to gain competitive and comparative advantages. While many of these advantages were unforeseen when the original investments were made, they are now part of the essential daily economic lifestyles and activities. It is this assumption about the transformative potential of broadband that has led many governments around the world to set ambitious targets for the deployme
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