South Korea will build 1 Gb/s Information Superhighway by 2012

The Korea Communications Commission has recently announced that it plans to invest 34 trillion won(roughly 24.6 billion dollars) including investment of about 32.8 trillion won from private sectors in the country’s IT infrastructure. The proposed plan by the KCC aims to meet the expected demand from the future broadcasting and communications services by building the ultra broadband convergence network(UBcN) and replacing the circuit-switched telephone network with an IP telephony network, which will bring the following changes.

The government expects the IT infrastructure investment will create more jobs and boost the country’s economy. Also, it is assumed that a virtuous cycle can be created with investment from private sectors.

According to the KCC, the plan tends to suggest a new vision for the future of IT Korea. It is promised that the government will not take any action to force private sector operators to invest, but it believes that the operators will play big roles in accomplishing the plan being drawn by reflecting their opinions.