South Korea backs down on Sun

26 Apr 2004 10:16

The country's telephone ministry will no longer force mobile network providers to use only Sun software for selling downloadable material

South Korea's telephone ministry has reversed its decision to force South Korean cellphone service providers to use only Sun Microsystems' download software to sell ring tones, games or other downloadable software.

The United States would have sought redress in the World Trade Organisation had South Korea's Ministry of Information and Communications not reversed its April 2003 mandate giving Sun exclusive presence in its Wireless Internet Platform for Interoperability cell phone standard, said a US trade representative.

Benefiting the most from the U-turn, announced on Friday, is San Diego cellphone chip and software maker Qualcomm, whose BREW (Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless) download software is popular in South Korea and other Asian countries.

Story URL: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/communications/0,1000000085,39152841,00.htm