Episode 184. Number of outboards.
Early November 2003.
The meeting room on the 45th floor.
Jae-Woon and Dae-Won were sitting opposite Thomas Fisher, CEO of Viewizon, one of the four largest telecommunication companies in the United States.
Jaewoon greeted Thomas.
“You have worked hard to come a long way. Mr Fisher.”
“no. It was nice to be able to see clearly what the future Mr. Kang was trying to create after coming to Korea. Thousands of people I saw while coming here were making calls, taking pictures, and surfing the Internet with the D-Phone released by Damoye. It was very impressive.”
“The decision was a little late due to our differences in positions, but we also want to participate in the future Mr. Kang will create.”
It was a de facto white flag surrender.
Jaewoon smiled and answered his words.
“We sincerely welcome your participation. As long as you don’t change your mind, we will be your best partner in the 4G communication business.”
Thomas laughed bitterly.
“Change your mind…Even if you want to change it, you can’t. Because of the collaboration with D-Phone, 4G has already become a trend. This is something that not only me, but also the heads of other carriers will think so. If you do not intend to close the business, you have no choice but to invest in 4G.”
His words were filled with feelings of ‘I have a lot of dissatisfaction, but there is no other way to do it’.
“The adoption of 4G will benefit your company as well. As you can see from the domestic situation, the ARPU (revenue per subscriber) of 4G is about twice that of 2G. In addition, it can be combined with new services such as Dflix. I guarantee that the introduction of 4G communication equipment will be a great opportunity for your company to take a step forward.”
“…as long as things have turned out like this, I can only hope that Mr. Lecture is right. As I said simply over the phone, if the unit price is right, I will purchase everything from core equipment for 4G to base stations and repeaters. The problem is the price…”
Thomas wiggled his tail and looked at his fortune.
There was no other company that could make 4G communication equipment other than the driver, so it was very difficult for him to negotiate the price.
At best, I can use the option of ‘I don’t live’ as a weapon.
Considering the world communications that continue to expand in the United States, it was actually a weapon that was difficult to bring out, so it was a very embarrassing state inside.
However, from the point of view of fortune, the price could not be raised.
In the United States, there was a law strong enough to force the division of private companies, called Anti-Trust Laws.
Currently, there is only one company that sells 4G communication equipment.
It was subject to the anti-monopoly law because it was bound by the link called Damoye with World Telecom.
If the price was raised too high, it could be sued by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for obstructing Fair Trade.
So, instead of raising the price, fortune decided to get something else.
“We will set the unit price the same as when supplying to World Telecom.”
Thomas was delighted with Jaewoon’s words.
“Five! If you do that, we’ll be fine.”
Jae-Woon said to Thomas, who was satisfied.
“But there are two conditions.”
“Conditions.. What?”
“First, among the 4G infrastructure Viewizon will build, we would like to lease the network in the rest of the world except California and Texas.”
Thomas, who had been pondering the meaning of those words, asked with a surprised face.
“..are you saying that the rest of the states will not build 4G network infrastructure?”
“That’s right. The reason why World Telecom and Bon Mobile have been able to increase their market share relatively easily is because there is a differentiated weapon called 4G communication. When the four major U.S. telecommunication companies have 4G infrastructure, the distinction will disappear, but frankly, the only thing left after that is a mud fight. The money goes according to the money, and there won’t be a lot of profit…because I’m not the type to fight like that.”
It was then that Thomas realized the true intention of fortune.
‘I didn’t even plan to build a nationwide network anyway… After all, the advancement of global communications into the US was a great effort to sell us 4G communications equipment!’
Jae-Woon looked at Thomas’s distorted expression and smiled inwardly.
‘Now do you understand? But nothing will change!’
Although his practical purpose was to supply the driver’s communication equipment to the four major telecommunication companies and to build an environment in which to sell D-phones by establishing 4G infrastructure in the United States.
If the four major telecommunication companies refused to purchase telecommunication equipment, that was a good thing.
If Jaewoon does not intentionally sell telecommunication equipment to the four major telecommunication companies, it may be a violation of the antitrust law.
If it was the other way around, I could freely expand the area of 4G infrastructure construction regardless of the antitrust laws.
If the four major telecommunication companies stand still until the 4G infrastructure deployment is complete across the United States.
It was only a matter of time before the world telecoms, which used 4G and D-phones as weapons, achieved the top position in market share.
But the top four telecommunications executives weren’t fools enough to sit still until things got to that point.
When the market share fell by more than 2%, I received a call from the No. 1 company Viewizen that they would visit Korea one after another.
Thomas stretched his face and opened his mouth.
“I will listen to the first condition. The second one.”
“The second is that when Viewizon builds 4G infrastructure, California and Texas are the last to be delayed.”
At that, Thomas hardened his face.
“Um… it means you want time for World Telecom to increase its market share.”
“you’re right. In the United States, only 5% of customers using our 4G plan are still there. Of course, I can make quite a profit like this, but it’s not enough for my hard work. It will take time until we have enough new customers in California and Texas, where the world’s 4G infrastructure is established.”
He said that he was a new customer and meant to take subscribers from the four major telecommunication companies.
Thomas, who was in a strict Eul position, had no choice but to nod his head.
“..All right. Let us accept the second condition.”
“haha. After all, Mr. Fisher is a good talker. I hope to go along well.”
“..yes. Take good care of me. Mr. Kang.”
#After Thomas passed away.
Daewon said to Jaewoon.
“Then what’s left now is to maximize the share of the four major carriers in California and Texas when they build 4G infrastructure in other states?”
“Yes. Since the US has a large land mass, it will take at least a year and 6 months for them to install 4G infrastructure. How much market share can be raised within it will determine the future profit of global telecom. Even though it’s only two weeks, it has a larger population than the entire country, so it may be more profitable than the Korea World Telecom headquarters.”
“I see. This global telecom’s advance into the US was truly a blessing. We were able to sell equipment and expand our telecommunication business significantly.”
“haha. The four major telecommunication companies were trying to fight for dominance, which actually helped us. If we had been compliant from the start, we would not have been able to enter the U.S. telecommunications market.”
The Incheon International Airport office of Aroa Airlines, a domestic airline, has been filled with unknown tension since morning.
Song Mi-yeon, the eldest daughter of Kummyung Group Chairman Song Ho-jin and the head of Aroa Airlines’ passenger business, came out early in the morning to check the service manual and trembled in Busan.
The VIP protocol team repeated rehearsals for virtual VIPs.
10:15 am.
The VIP protocol team leader shouted at Song Mi-yeon.
“You will arrive in 30 minutes!”
Song Mi-yeon took a deep breath and stood up.
“Whoa… you’re finally here… Come on, let’s go.”
She and the protocol team quickly walked towards the VIP parking lot.
And after a while.
Two people got off the large black sedan that stopped in front of them.
Song Mi-yeon bowed her head without hesitation toward the young one among them.
“hello? Representative Kang Jae-woon!”
He was 10 years younger than me.
The fact that he was the head of Damoyeo, who surpassed not only the Geummyeong Group, but also the Hwansung Group, which had previously been ranked first in the business world, deserved this kind of treatment.
Jaewoon nodded at her.
“Thank you for the hospitality.”
She spoke with a nervous expression on her face.
“I am Song Mi-yeon, general manager of Aroa Airlines’ Passenger Business Department. From now on, I and the protocol team will take CEO Kang comfortably to the cabin of RS367 bound for the United States.”
“I will leave it up to you. Commander-in-Chief.”
The VIP protocol team was handed over the luggage of Jae-woon and his party.
Jaewoon and his party were guided to the VIP passage through the VIP room.
It took them roughly 15 minutes or less from the parking lot to get to the plane, as they were taken to the plane in one go without actually being searched.
#I laughed when I saw Director Lee Kuk-hyun, who was making an awkward face on the way to the plane.
“Chief. Why are you here? Like someone who is using the VIP passage for the first time.”
“Um… The royal family’s general manager personally comes and escorts him, and this kind of treatment can only be received if he becomes the president. It’s weird to get used to.”
“Now stop getting used to it. If you are the secretary general of Damoye, the largest company in Korea, you deserve this kind of treatment.”
“..that’s right, but it’s not easy because you are a commoner in heaven…”
“haha. The World Telecom U.S. corporation meeting is tomorrow at 11 o’clock, right?”
Now that we have solved the big problem with the four major telecommunication companies, all that remains is to put our best effort into securing customers.
In the meantime, I have received regular reports from the World Telecom US corporation.
If you didn’t check the business with your own eyes, problems would arise.
Directly inspect the overall management status of World Telecom’s US subsidiary.
Local telecommunication infrastructure also went on a business trip to the United States to see if there were any problems.
“When was your appointment with the UFC?”
And while I was in the US, I was thinking of finishing up my UFC investment case.
“It’s 4 PM in two days.”
I nodded to the manager.
“Two days later…I see.”
Soon we arrived on the plane.
I said to this manager.
“Then get a good night’s sleep and see you in America. haha.”
“Call me whenever you need me. It’s right next to you anyway.”
“Even if it’s the next seat, it’s first class, so it’s a long way away. I have nothing to call, so please rest in peace.”
“All right. Then rest. CEO.”
The manager smiled with a humble face.
We dispersed to our seats.
#U.S. UFC Operations Headquarters.
Representative Roy White sighed.
“Whoa…how do you give me fight money this month?”
The UFC was the largest martial arts organization in the United States.
After being banned from broadcasting two years ago for being too violent, the profits did not come out well.
Because it was too difficult to even pay the players a match fee.
Roy smiled bitterly.
“When I first started this business, I thought that I would be able to make hundreds of millions of dollars in profits soon… There are a lot of good players and there are a lot of viewers who like martial arts, but I can’t get enough of it because I can’t air it…ah , I think if there is some opportunity, I can make a huge profit… I don’t know that well…”
After thinking for a while, Roy remembered a call from Korea a few days ago.
‘Let’s think about it again after meeting the CEO of Damoye. Do you know if I have any good suggestions? Maybe you have an idea to turn this grim situation around. Two days later… he’s a very smart person, I can’t wait to see what he’ll say…’
