S KOREA TO ADOPT LANDLINE PHONE NUMBER PORTABILITY EARLIER.

AsiaPulse News, September, 2003

SEOUL, Sept 17 Asia Pulse - Landline telephone users in 11 cities nationwide, excluding Seoul and Busan, will be able to switch service operators while keeping their phone numbers from October, two months ahead of schedule, the Ministry of Information and Communication said Wednesday.

The so-called phone number portability is aimed at encouraging fair competition in the telecommunications market, the ministry said.

The 11 cities are Suwon, Anyang, Kuri, Gimpo, Uijeongbu, Daejeon, Gwangju, Ulsan, Jeonju, Cheonan and Masan.

The system will also be available for fixed-line telephone users in Busan, the country's second-largest city, from July 2004 and in Seoul a month later, the ministry said.

Under the new government regulations, telephone...