Episode 168. Frequency battle.
I laughed to myself at the sight of CEO Kim Soo-chan, who was surprised to hear that the production cost of the drama was 10 billion won.
Well, even at that time, even if it was a Korean blockbuster movie, there were hardly any cases where the production cost exceeded 5 billion won.
Since it was common for drama production costs to not exceed 1 billion won, President Kim Soo-chan was surprised.
“I want Dflix to grab people’s attention right after launch. I entrust the production of high-quality content that only D-flix can provide, which cannot be seen anywhere else.”
President Kim answered with a determined expression on his face.
“I will create amazing dramas to the extent that Korean citizens are forced to join Dflix.”
“haha. That’s a nice word. Please do so.”
Gowon Automobile Conference Room.
Jin Chang-ho, vice chairman of Gowon Group, frowned at the end-of-month performance data provided by Kowon Motors president Koh Hoon-sik.
“Go boss. At the last president’s meeting, I would have said that we should thoroughly step on white cow tea by strengthening marketing such as discounts on the amount to be released in the Korean market… Didn’t I? Our share has actually fallen, haven’t we?”
Go Hun-sik shook his head hastily.
“You are mistaken, Vice-President. As you said, new cars are already at a 10% discount, and in the case of old models, we are giving a 10% discount plus a free option.”
“But why did the market share drop?”
Go Hoon-sik opened his mouth with a face that he had no face.
“..that’s…because Baekwoo signed an exclusive supply contract with YouNavi for navigation, a lot of consumers fell away.”
“Navigation? That electronic product that tells you the way to your destination?”
“It’s just an additional product that has nothing to do with car performance. Why are consumers leaving without it?”
“It has nothing to do with driving performance, but with or without navigation makes a huge difference in terms of convenience. It can be difficult to go on a new road while driving, but if you have a navigation system, that burden is greatly reduced. So by March, half of the cars sold were so popular that they had a navigation option.”
“..okay? well that’s what it is Is there any other place other than the company YouNavi for navigation?”
Go Hoon-shik shook his head.
“There are a few places that are developing navigation, but none of them have completed research and development, let alone commercialization, except for You Butterfly. That’s why your butterfly’s technology is at an unrivaled level.”
“..why did your butterfly signed an exclusive supply contract with white cow tea? No matter how good the price is, the sales volume is less than one-eighth of that of our car, so it must be a contract that will be a loss.”
“I found out that the major shareholders of You Butterfly were all gathered.”
Jin Chang-ho, who was shocked and stared into the air for a while, opened his mouth.
“..what did you just say? Your butterfly is a subsidiary company?”
“That’s right. We didn’t even know about YouNavi until we investigated that it was an unlisted company, but it has been nearly two years since Damoye took over.”
Jin Chang-ho bit his molars tightly.
“..Kang Jae-woon this child. There was a plan like this…”
Go Hoon-sik had his head bowed with a stiff face.
Jin Chang-ho, who had been pensive for a while, spoke towards him.
“Is there one of Kowon Automobile’s subsidiaries that is engaged in the electronics business?”
“Yes. Although the electric field business is not our main focus, we are also dealing with battlefields such as headlights and car audio at Kowon Motors.”
“Ask them to develop navigation.”
“..are you saying that instead of looking for a company that can make navigation well, we should develop it ourselves?”
“Absolutely. Are you saying that there is no other place where you can make a navigation system other than YouNavi anyway?”
“Now it is.”
“So, let’s make it ourselves. That way you don’t have to do something like this later. Does it make sense that cars can’t be sold because they don’t have one battlefield? Use this as a lesson to strengthen your battlefield business. Gowon Motors is actively supporting us.”
“..Navigation is not a very simple product. Developing from scratch can be time consuming. How about negotiating with CEO Kang instead? If you give me permission, I will negotiate directly with CEO Kang.”
Jin Chang-ho shook his head.
“It’s futile. No matter what conditions we place on him, he will never pass the navigation. If you look at the acquisition of an automobile company that has not been interested in the past, the goal must be to bring down Kowon Motors.”
Noticing that something was entangled between Chang-ho Jin and Jae-woon, Hoon-shik Ko nodded.
“Um…then it’s no big deal. We will try to develop it as soon as possible.”
“Don’t even think about doing everything from scratch. Even if the technology level is not as high as YourNavi, there are other companies that are developing navigation systems in Korea? It can cost you any amount of money, so buy a company like that and save time.”
“Oh, like that? Okay. We will arrange a navigation developer and report back.”
World Telecom headquarters conference room.
Individual tests of the 4G communication equipment being developed by the Traveler Communication Equipment Division have been successfully completed.
Now I needed to install it on a real base station and see if it worked.
I called Shin Hyun, the head of the network division, to tell the story.
“Shin, Mr. 4G LTE communication equipment development is over. We have to install equipment at the base station and the operation headquarters and test it, so please help us.”
Director Shin nodded with a look of anticipation.
“It’s finally over. Okay. We will make it our number one priority.”
“And let’s apply to the Ministry of Information and Communication to change the use of the 2.1Ghz frequency band we allocated last year.”
frequency.
It is a number that indicates how many times an electromagnetic wave vibrates per second.
In wireless communication, information is exchanged through electromagnetic waves, and by the government, the frequency bands and widths that can be used by each mobile communication service provider, as well as the purpose of use, were strictly regulated by law.
Although the 2.1Ghz band can technically be used for 4G LTE as well.
Because the frequency band was originally allocated for 3G WCDMA, it could not be used before the change of use.
“Are there any other business-related problems?”
“…there is one thing. As I said before, our market share has dropped a lot because we minimized our marketing expenses.
“it’s okay. After all, the ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) of 4G communication customers, which is the next-generation communication, will be much higher. If we get 2G customers now, we won’t be able to switch to 4G later because of our contract, so it will be our trouble spot. It is better to start 4G communication and increase new customers from there.”
Shin nodded his head.
“I guess so. We will apply for a change of use immediately, and we will report the result when it comes out.”
#Doosung Telecom’s owner, Doosung Group Chairman Yeo-beom Koo’s office.
“President.”
Goo Yeo-beom raised her head at the voice of the chief of staff.
“I got a call from the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the world communication side has applied for a change in the use of the 2.1Ghz frequency band.”
The moment she heard those words, Yeo-beom Koo felt a chill in her spine.
“Jaewoon Kang looks like he’s finally getting a job. What is the reason for the change of use?”
The chief of staff hesitated for a moment before opening his mouth.
“..I will use the frequency for 4G communication instead of the existing 3G…”
Goo Yeo-beom said nothing for a while, feeling as if a stone the size of a house was beating her heart.
Goo Yeo-beom, who had been in shock for a while, struggled to open her mouth.
“..4G?”
“yes. It seems to be called LTE, but it was the first communication method I had ever heard of.”
“I jumped over 3G and went straight to 4G… This kid was thinking of such a number. For some reason, I was embarrassed to see the share of global telecoms continue to decline…”
It was only then that Yeo-beom Koo realized that the decline in the global telecom market share was not unavoidable, but because of his fortune on purpose.
He continued speaking as he looked at the chief of staff who had a depressed expression on his face.
“This monster has devastated semiconductors and displays, and now it seems that he is planning to do the same for communications… What the hell is LTE?”
“..I heard the explanation from the Director of Policy, but I didn’t understand everything. From what I understand, it is a new communication standard that is 10 times faster than 3G communication.”
At those words, Goo Yeo-beom’s face darkened even more.
“Ten times…”
The 3G mobile communication business, the so-called IMT-2000 business, aimed to create an infrastructure capable of communication at 2Mbps, which is several tens of times faster than the existing 2G communication speed of 64Kbps (Kilo Bit Per Second).
In the 2G environment, it was almost impossible to send and receive high-capacity data such as videos due to the slow speed.
In 3G, it was possible to send and receive anything.
Even with this amount, services that were previously only imaginable, such as video calls through mobile phones and sending photos, become possible.
It was not even known what could be done with LTE, which is 10 times faster than that.
Goo Yeo-beom, who had been in trouble for a while, looked at the chief of staff.
“No matter how great that kid is, he can’t just sit still and be treated like this. It’s been a while since I’ve moved on my own.”
“..what do you plan to do..?”
“You have to show him that business isn’t just about technology. Chief Sohn, arrange a seat with the Minister of Information and Communication. Who wants to repurpose? It’s okay.”
Even if the change of use could be prevented at least, the 4G business of World Telecom could not even start for the time being.
With the time earned, this side was also planning to prepare for the 4G business.
I received a call from Executive Vice President Shin Hyun, head of the World Telecommunication Network Division.
“..CEO. The Ministry of Information and Communication has replied that it is impossible to change the use of the 2.1Ghz frequency band.”
“yes? Why?”
“The rules say it’s impossible. The answer was to return the existing frequency band to start the 4G business, and to go through the proper procedure again starting with the application for a new frequency band.”
I mean, there was nothing wrong with it.
It was not even expected how many more years it would take to launch a 4G business if the procedures were done properly.
“Please make an appointment with the Minister of Justice. I guess I’ll have to build the wall myself.”
“..If you look at it so decisively, it may not be just a matter of regulations…”
“Are you saying that the lobby might have entered from the competitor’s side? I know. If I had been in the position of a competitor, I would have done that.”
“Are you saying you want to meet me even though you know that?”
“yes. I think he doesn’t know his position very well yet. I want to tell you for sure.”
“..All right. I will make an appointment and tell you.”
#two days later. Ministry of Information and Communication Office.
Jae-Woon was sitting face to face with Minister of Information and Communication Kim Yoo-Soo.
Kim Yoo-soo opened her mouth.
“Seeing that you came all the way here, it seems that you have misunderstood. The reason for designating a use before allocating a frequency is that it is necessary to analyze what problems may arise and what the business feasibility will be if the frequency band is used for that purpose. So, until now, the government has never approved a change in the use of frequencies, and this time, the judgment is just an extension of that. It means that there is no discrimination against global communications in particular.”
Jaewoon snorted inwardly.
‘What a misunderstanding.’
It wasn’t that Kim Yoo-soo was wrong.
However, the reason for blocking new technologies that are more than 10 times faster than the existing ones was insufficient.
“It seems that the minister is making a misunderstanding. I don’t think I’ve been discriminated against. However, I am here to tell you that I think the Ministry of Information and Communication has left out an important point to refer to when making a decision.”
“..anything we should refer to?”
Jaewoon opened his mouth with a confident expression.
“yes. As mentioned in the material we sent you earlier, LTE is a communication technology that allows download speeds of up to 75 Mbps. Considering that the highest speed of VDSL, the most advanced technology currently being deployed in wired communication networks, is 50Mbps, it is a tremendous technology.”
When Jae-Woon compared the data numerically accurately, Kim Yu-soo reluctantly nodded.
“Now we just need to install this amazing technology, but we are not getting frequency allocations? So what do you think I will do from now on?”
Kim Yu-soo felt something ominous in Jae-woon’s confident face.
“..I do not know. I have no idea what the president is thinking.”
“If the frequency allocation is delayed like this, I’m going to take this technology to the American telecommunications company.”
