Heavy snow increases mobile handset usage in Seoul

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- A heavy snowfall that paralyzed traffic in the Seoul
metropolitan area led to a sharp increase in cellphone calls and text messages on
Monday as commuters called in late and searched for updates on traffic
conditions, telecom carriers said.
Seoul recorded over 25.8 centimeters of precipitation as of 2:00 p.m., the
heaviest snowfall in over 60 years. Most domestic flights were canceled, while
commuters on the road arrived late for 2010's first day of work.
Telecom operators reported that voice calls and text messages soared during the
day as citizens resorted to cell phones to call in late or to get updates on
transportation conditions.
According to KT Corp., South Korea's second-largest mobile carrier, 6.5 million
calls were made as of 9 a.m. in the Seoul metropolitan area, up 50 percent from a
week ago. Short message service (SMS) use went up 28 percent in the same period.
Multimedia message service (MMS), referring to cell phone messages with
multimedia contents, went up 57 percent from a week earlier.
"Data usage seemed to have gone up sharply as people had to make more calls and
download data about road conditions," an official at KT said.
SK Telecom Co., the country's largest mobile operator, said that voice calls were
up 46 percent in the same period, with the use of SMS and MMS services up each 20
percent and 95 percent, respectively.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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