"A New Era in Mobile Multimedia Service Is Now Opened"
Now the era of multimedia service in the wireless Internet is fully launched.

SK Telecom announced big news in regard to the starting of a premium multi-media service named "June". This service allows the enjoyment of streaming video content through the third generation wireless network.

June, as SK Telecom’s premium brand, is a true concept of multimedia service which is distinct, and superior to the existing second generation services. With the 3G network, June allows you to enjoy vivid streaming video multimedia services such as VOD (Video on Demand), MOD (Music on Demand), video phone functions, multimedia message, TV broadcasting, the Internet, and many other communication functions.

NATE is a wired and wireless multi-Internet service that users can access through cellular phones, PDAs, and Drive for Vehicles. On top of this, June, as a premium multimedia service, functions under the mobile environment with many devices such as multimedia-enabled cellular phones, PDAs and Drive for Vehicles, while offering the full functionality of TV, MP3, camcorders, DVD, and game devices.

SK Telecom explained the reason for choosing "June" as the brand name for this service. The company purposely avoided a brand name with formal or technological terminology oriented with the view point of the company itself, and came up with June because June is like a common friend name that can be identified easily, and it gives a feeling of intimacy to the customers.

A big significance to the starting of June, is that it is beyond the mere introduction of new services in the market, but it also serves as a test of the potential of the third generation wireless Internet market. Up to now, the wireless market has grown by the degree of wireless network advancement, but with 3G (Third Generation), it is changing in the direction that content provision will lead the market.

In particular, SK Telecom expects that the services provided by WCDMA and content by June would be very complimentary, and this will serve toward early activation of the WCDMA service market.

There is also a big shift toward focusing on the content. Before the starting of June service, existing services could only introduce and apply off-line content to the cellular phone. Now with June, the exclusive content market, which is the most adaptable to the third generation network, is fully developing due to the fact that June cultivates the fitting of all kinds of content into the mobile environment.

To encourage swift development of the third generation wireless Internet, SK Telecom plans to nurture the multimedia market by heavily investing in market areas such as mobile movies and all kinds of streaming video image content, which require larger investments than small and medium-sized content providers can handle.

As part of this plan, SK Telecom produced and showed through June, three mobile movies (directed by Hee Chul Lee, main characters Seung Jin Lee, Seung Eun Oh),(directed by Sang Woo Lee, main characters Jung Hun Park, Ji Myoung Oh, Ge Nam Myoung), and (directed by Sang Hee Han, main characters Seung Won Cha, Min Jung Kim, Sang Wu Kwon). The company also plans to keep acquiring varied multimedia content.

June has a varied multimedia content 7 menus of Movie Channels that allows you to see mobile movies and movie premiers, a Music Channel with music videos and the latest music, a Broadcasting Channel that gives real time news, decorative phone creation, and mobile singer Noul.

June is provided through devices that support streaming video images. Currently you can use the Samsung SCH-V300 model for the service, and the company will put 2 or 3 more models which will include the video phone function on the market by next year.
In the early part of next year, the company will also introduce PDAs and Smart Phones that enable the use of June.

Till February of next year, in order to lighten the burden of customers’ use fees, SK Telecom is offering a temporary monthly fixed rate of 25,000 won (not including information use fee) which lets customers use VOD content without limits. The company also offers customers who subscribe to the service by April of next year a deal that allows free use of a 20,000 packet (value 26,000 won) of VOD content (with an additional charge for an information use fee) for 3 days right after subscription, and for three month they have free use of 5,000 packet (value 19,500 won) of VOD content (not including information using fee) per month.

In addition to this, customers can save on the rate when they reserve and download VOD content in the early morning hours (between 02~06 a.m.) for later use. By doing this, they can pay only 0.3 won per packet which is 23% of the regular charge of 1.3 won per packet. For instance, if you watch a one minute movie premier (about 2,400 packets and capacity 1.2M), you can pay about 750 won by using the reserved download rate fee (0.3 won per packet).

For voice service, customers can use their same existing voice service rate by SK Telecom plans such as TTL, UTO, CARA , and also receive the same membership benefits.
There are two methods for using the June service. You can directly connect to the June menu by simply pressing the assigned key (Hot Key) on which is inscribed VOD (plan to be changed June) and located on the right side of the phone (future models might have a change in this procedure). After you are connected by pressing the NATE key, you press ? on the upper side of the higher menu, and then choose ’Hi! June’ on the upper side of the lower menu.

You can use ’June’ without an extra subscribing procedure by simply purchasing a cellular phone that enables the use of the June service. The procedure for new subscribing and the changing of the cellular phone are the same as in subscribing and exchanging of a previous service plan and phone.

Currently June is provided in 23 cities nationwide, including the 5 megalopolises where 1X EV-DO service is available, and by the end of this year, the company will expand its service areas to 81 cities nationwide.

Suk Hawn Lee, vice-president of SK Telecom’s Marketing Strategy Division mentioned "For the customers, June improves their life pattern for the better, and for SK Telecom as a Value Creator, June moves the company one step higher toward achieving the dream world of communication services."

He also commented on the significance of starting June service, "We clearly know that we can’t satisfy the rapid and continual changes in the market environment with the existing brands based on voice communication. Therefore, we developed and introduced June into the market as a new concept that lets us share and work with our customers through a natural and friendly approach, rather than a technical concept of approach."