KMI in 6th trial for carrier license

KMI has applied for a business license for the sixth time on Wednesday, hoping to start services by October next year.

KMI is a telecom firm that has been repeatedly seeking to become the country's local mobile carrier.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said it has received the application from KMI, who said it will first launch services in 85 major cities and gradually cover the entire country by January 2016.

The company failed to obtain licenses in five previous attempts due to a range of technical problems with the bidding procedures, although it had successfully paid the required deposit, estimated at 27.9 billion won ($26 million).

KMI seeks to start services based on long-term evolution time-division duplex (LTE TDD).

The LTE-TDD network is a fourth-generation mobile technology developed and led by China, while the frequency-division LTE was adopted by South Korea, the U.S., Japan and other nations.

Currently, three mobile companies -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp -- operate in South Korea's mobile network market.

By Shin Ji-hae and news reports (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)