South Korea’s telecoms regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), will license new operators for WiBro technology in a bid to boost disappointing take-up of the mobile broadband technology. According to a Korea Times report, KCC will order existing WiBro operators KT and SK Telecom (SKT) to open up their networks to MVNOs and encourage roaming. The KCC will also reportedly allow VoIP calls on WiBro-enabled handsets.

Vigorously backed by the Korean government, WiBro – a version of the IEEE’s mobile WiMAX 802.16 standard – has fallen far short of expectations since launch three years ago. The Korea Times report notes that KT and SKT have a combined total of just over 250,000 WiBro subscribers. In contrast, Wireless Intelligence forecasts that both operators had a total of over 24 million subscribers using WCDMA/HSPA technology by the end of the third quarter this year. Last month it was reported that KT and SKT were keen for the regulator to drop its pro-WiBro policy as it is not a profitable service.