South Korea's Wireless Internet Platform Set For Upgrading

Seoul, South Korea (AHN) - The South Korean government announced on Wednesday the upgrading of the country's sole wireless Internet platform in preparation for stiff competition in the global market for the middleware.

The Ministry of Information and Communication is spearheading the move, which includes enhancing Wireless Internet Platform Interoperability (WIPI) contents and improving WIPI standards with the participation of private firms.

WIPI is a middleware platform used in South Korea that allows mobile phones, regardless of manufacturer or carrier, to run Internet applications. More than 60 percent of handsets used in the country is WIPI-enabled.

The WIPI was launched in May 2005 and the government required local mobile phone manufacturers to equip products with the middleware. But the government has relaxed its rule allowing manufacturers to produce low-cost handsets not intended to access the Internet without the middleware.