[Consolidation of several telecom operators encouraged in efforts to develop a third telecom giant in Korea.]

by Shin Hye-son -- "The government's plan to restructure the telecom industry seems to be heading toward a tie up of LG Telecom (LGT), Hanaro Telecom and Powercomm, as a group offering both wired and wireless telecom services.

"At a meeting with an industrial group called "21 Century Entrepreneurs Club" Wednesday, Information and Communication Minister Yang Seung-taik specifically named LGT, Hanaro and Powercomm as the combination that could generate a synergy effect if they were to team up to bid for the cdma2000 standard IMT-2000, or 3G, license.

"Yang said that the combination could develop into a third telecom giant capable of vying with the current market leaders, SK Telecom (SKT) and Korea Telecom (KT).

"The government believes that the advent of a third telecom giant would reshape the industry, now suffering from excessive competition and duplicated investments, into a three-big-player structure.

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