Analysis of Mobile Broadband Service Penetration in Korea

The expansion of mobile broadband services will bring noticeable changes to the market in the present and in the near future and will also have an impact on society. The penetration of mobile broadband services is generally regarded to be a crucial factor for economic growth and global competitiveness of a nation, and South Korea continues to hold the global lead in mobile broadband penetration despite the fact that it is neither a technological leader nor a wealthy and developed nation. In this paper, the factors underlying the explosive growth in the number of subscribers to high-speed mobile broadband services in Korea are examined and analyzed under the theoretical frameworks of the diffusion of innovation and Porter´s diamond model of determinants of national competitive advantage. Korea´s success in mobile broadband deployment is characterized in terms of government support and coordination, supply-side and demand-side conditions, and competition in the market. Several implications for policymakers are provided from the analysis of this study.