Korea the leading global testbed for WiMAX
The Korean government and communications industry have invested significant amounts of resources and effort into WiBro since 2002 in order to ensure the industry’s continued development and to overcome the fact Korea lacks core patents in other communications fields. More aggressive than any other nation in the promotion of metropolitan area networking, Korea is emerging as the leading global testbed for WiBro, and by extension, WiMAX. However, competing technologies as well as the characteristics of the nation’s domestic market may pose a challenge to WiBro development. At the same time, Korean players are working hard to strike a balance between control of core patents and the added exposure and development momentum that cooperation with international heavyweights provides.