Today number portability was announced by the Korean government. This move - sure to take another century in the west because it basically puts an end to the domination of historic operators - consists in allowing people to use Voice over IP (VoIP) at home with a legit phone number (instead of having to turn your computer, log into a service like Skype, and wear one of those horrible headsets).

Korea Times: Cheaper Web Phones to Debut Next Month

Telephone users from next month can switch to a cheaper Internet-based service without changing their numbers.

The government is expected to permit voice-over-Internet protocol (VoIP) subscribers to get access to number portability.

The policy could ignite explosive growth in the Internet telephony market given growing consumer frugality amid high inflation and the sluggish economy.

The change could reshape the telecommunication industry, with KT, which controls more than 90 percent of the fixed-line phone market, expected to lose business to smaller carriers.

KT pressured the Korean Communications Commission to delay the adoption of number portability, which had been slated for this month, saying the data systems of VoIP operators provide insufficient direction information for 119 emergency calls.

Link

Nice try on the “VoIP doesn’t provide direction information for emergency calls”. It is probably true, but this had to happen one day. How come you can skype for free and not call free? Something had to give. The interface was the bottleneck and this is now over, VoIP will be super easy to use from now.

PS: and I hope you now trust me when I say that Korea is a laboratory of western society, a place where many innovations and changes happen 5 years earlier.

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