Competitiveness of the Internet Industry in Korea and Japan: Case Studies of Korea Telecom Freetel and NTT DoCoMo

Abstract

Koreas well-developed mobile telephony network infrastructure makes it a globally competitive country in the field of wireless Internet. Korea Telecom Freetel has enjoyed the early-mover advantage in the wireless Internet industry in Korea, although it was a late-comer in the mobile telephony industry. The competition, however, is becoming harsher than ever, and the company is now seeking a breakthrough. For benchmarking, Japans NIT DoCoMo was chosen for its tremendous success in the worlds first commercialization of the wireless Internet. Using the diamond model (Porter 1990; Moon, Rugman and Verbeke 1998), the variables are analyzed and strategic recommendations are provided. One important conclusion is that Korea Telecom Freetel is taking advantage of its Esbusiness implementation, but can be more competitive if its business environment is less restrictive. The results of this research will help policymakers as well as business people in making decisions to enhance the competitiveness of the Internet industry.