LG Telecom may offer 3G service on Google platform

LG Telecom Co Ltd, South Korea‘s
third-biggest mobile service operator, may offer its third-generation service
on phones using Google’s mobile software platform, LG’s chief executive said on
Thursday.

“We are using an open
platform for our 3G service,” CEO Jung Il-jae told reporters.

“Google and other
companies have shown interest,” Jung said, adding a formal negotiation has
not started with Google.

South Korean handset maker
LG Electronics Inc said in February it would start selling a model running on
Google’s Android mobile phone operating system in late 2008 or early 2009.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd also hopes to have a Google phone in early 2009.

Jung said Android phones
would be available first for 3G services based on GSM (global system for mobile
communications) technology, although LG Telecom, which uses the rival CDMA
(code division multiple access) standard, could eventually offer Android
phones.

No.1 U.S. mobile
service AT&T Inc said on Wednesday it was interested in selling phones
based on Android.

LG, which has 18 % of South
Korea’s 44 mln mobile users, has lagged behind bigger rivals SK Telecom Co and
KTF Co Ltd in providing more profitable 3G services, such as video calls and
wireless Internet.

LG hopes to win users for
its 3G services through easy-to-use and cheaper full Internet browsing service,
which allows direct access to the Internet just like fixed-line platforms.

Kosdaq-listed
LG Telecom rose 0.4 % to 7,600 won by 1:05 a.m. EDT, compared with the Kosdaq
index’s 0.13 % gain.