Beginning this year, Samsung Electronics, the worlds third-largest cell phone producer, will be able to save tens of millions of dollars annually thanks to a new handset test system.
The Ministry of Ination and Communication said on March 31 it is considering allocating radio frequencies so Samsung can test European phones at its Gumi plants in North Gyeongsang Province.
Earlier this year, Samsung asked us to assign frequencies for the global system for mobile communications (GSM). We plan to begin a field test soon to check the viability of the requests, said Joo Jong-ok, a director at the ministry.
There seems to be an available spectrum band needed to check GSM-enabled phones. Should Samsung carry out checkup of GSM models in Korea, the firm will save more than 50 billion won (51.2 million) every year, he said.
Samsung now spends a considerable amount to test GSM-based phones because the European-dominant technology is not used in Korea where rival technology code division multiple access (CDMA) is the single national standard.
Both plats are mainstream techniques enabling local and international mobile phone calls, but GSM has carved out a much bigger market share globally.
GSM, which accounts for roughly three-fourths of the international cell phone market, is widespread in Europe, South America, Africa and most Asian nations.
CDMA, the offspring of U.S.-based Qualcomm, is embraced by North American and east Asian countries including Korea, Japan and China.
In particular, Korea has been at the forefront in commercializing all generations of CDMA versions, even faster than the ats home, the United States.
Koreas adoption of the CDMA at as a single standard caused Samsung concern regarding testing for GSM models.
Last year, Samsung cranked out 86.5 million handsets with about 67 million units, 77 percent, GSM-powered phones.
Since GSM frequencies are not available in Korea, we have to test a lot of new GSM handsets at every corner of the world where the models can be operated, a Samsung spokesman said.
If checkups of GSM phones can be conducted in our Gumi factories, tetsting costs would substantially head south, he added.
Globally, GSM phones are operable at the 900 MHz frequency band and the Ministry of Ination and Communication appears confident about securing the spectrum in Gumi.
