A pioneer is Daelim Industrial Co., which last year launched fiber-optic service at Seoul's Acrotown. The strategy to market cyber-apartments was a great hit,'' enthuses Samsung's Moon. Samsung's foray into wired homes prompted Daelim to form Icitiro Co., a consortium of chaebol and content providers. Both consortiums will build portals for apartments. Anyuser began testing in April, connecting 1,000 homes to shops and government services.
Residents can buy flowers, get patient data from a local hospital, book movie tickets, and so forth.
The government is squarely behind the broadband initiative. Last year, it began rating buildings based on the quality of their datalines. The question is whether Korea can train the pool of technology experts and build the sound financial system required to make a successful transformation to the New Economy. The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.