A world telecommunications market takes a new turn to global competition due to the tremendous changes of the environment in information telecommunications sector, caused by the rapid growth in the digital technology, customers' diversified needs and the agreement of WTO. As mega carriers appear in the global competitive environment through M&A and alliance, world telecommunications market begins unlimited competitions.
Telecommunications market in Korea is 11TH in the world in terms of gross sales. From the gross sales point of view only, this means that Korea reached the level of developed countries in telecommunications sector.
However, Korea's overall telecommunications service falls short of the standard except basic telecommunication service in quantity.
As shown in the cases of AT&T,RBOCs and BT, leading carrires strengthen their competitive power through M&A and alliance. Domestic carriers in Korea are currently faced with difficult competitive environment.
It is proposed that the strategies of the domestic carriers to improve competitiveness through M&A and alliance in order to cope with the highly competitive environment should include:
1) Government must change the policy toward M&A by minimizing its intervention in the market and setting up market system based on market principles.
2) Domestic telecommunications market needs to be defended and reorganized in preparation for the foreign carriers' entry into the domestic market.
3) Domestic carriers need to understand global competitive environment and play a major role as telecommunications hub in the Asian area by pursuing entry into the developing country markets taking advantage of the experiences gained in the domestic market and by joining global network consortia to acquire advanced technologies.
4) Domestic carriers have to continue to carry out various programs to reduce employees' stress caused by M&A and ultimately come to successful organizational integration.
