Korea: World Cup technology, wireless and WLANs
Few activities are less interesting than watching sporting events. Indeed, the mind-numbing devotion by human beings to watching illiterates [many, though not all] kicking, batting, throwing, putting, carrying, etc. balls and similar objects is one indication of the sad state of human intelligence. (And don't get me started on the intellect of people who enjoy boxing or hunting.)
I realize this view not only places me in a tiny minority but also leaves me open to criticism by the drooling masses. Can hundreds of millions (billions?) of people be wrong? Well, yes, they certainly can and often are.
However, I do look at sports from a technology perspective. For xample, while I use the occasion of the Super Bowl to go to movies and restaurants (which are uncrowded), I am interested in the new commercials for high-tech products. I can see view commercials on the Internet or use something like Tivo to fast-forward through the program.
World Cup and wireless
The World Cup (men running back and forth across a field trying to kick a ball into a net; how terribly exciting) is interesting to me because of the focus on technology. Many cellular operators began promoting World Cup scores and action transmitted via SMS.
The Koreans have used the World Cup to promote its technological expertise. The Koreans are far ahead of most of the world in Internet penetration, broadband penetration, cellular penetration and higher-speed (70K bps) CDMA 1xRTT service. Indeed, Korea is the world's showcase for 1xRTT service. CNN has an article about the cellular competition between Japan and Korea.
The Korea Times published an article about Korea's plans to promote technology.
Korea and WiFi
Korea also will have one of the largest numbers of 802.11 hotspots in the world. Two telecom carriers will be installing a total of 25,000 hotspots in Korea -- one installing 10,000 and the other installing 25,000. Nespot already offers WLAN service in Korea.
If you'd like to read an overview of Korean telecom during the World Cup -- with a focusing on Internet cafes -- but also with information about cellular and wireless LANs, check out a recent article from The Korea Times. The article discusses how Korea is promoting its technology to journalists.
AsiaBizTech [thank you Glenn Fleishman for the pointer some days ago] wrote about the International Media Center's telecommunications capabilities, including information about wireless LANs.
Avaya has been a major sponsor and telecommunications at the World Cup and has a lot of information about its efforts. Avaya has provided the WiFi infrastructure to journalists and photographers at thje World Cup, but it's not a free for all.
According to an article from IDG News Service -- which was filed from Tokyo, not Seoul -- WiFi at the World Cup costs $80 per day or $1,010 for the month (converted from Japanese yen). The article mentions Avaya renting or selling its WiFi card, so I'm not sure if those prices are just for the airtime (which I believe is the case) or also include the purchase or the rental of the PC Card.
I have been looking at WiFi prices around the world and they really do wander all over the place.
Avaya has the exclusive rights to establish and sell 802.11 service, and journalists need a "permit" in the form of a red plastic badge to show they have been approved. According to the article, officials check if everyone using 802.11 has a permit. Also, the system uses 128-bit encryption.
Yawn vs. excitement
The silly games notwithstanding, the technology is interesting! Indeed, the best thing about the World Cup is it encourages technology companies to offer state-of-the-art telecommunications services.
If I can find airfares from Washington, D.C. to Korea that aren't ridiculously high, I'll be there next month. Watching a soccer match will not be on my schedule, but using CDMA and WiFi services certainly will be.
1:33:08 PM 
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