Tags:WiBro | broadband | CELL

Source technologies for South Korea''s homegrown portable Internet services, called WiBro, which is short for wireless broadband, were almost illegally sold to companies of another country.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors'' Office said that former and present Posdata researchers attempted to steal WiBro technology to sell to businesses in the US.

＾Several former Posdata workers tried to leak WiBro technologies to InQuadron, a firm they established in the US last December,'''' prosecutor Lee Je-yeong said.

The official also said the researchers have established a Korean office of InQuadron in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, where Posdata''s head office is situated, to collect WiBro technology.

However, they failed to take the stolen technology to the InQuadron head office in Silicon Valley, Lee said. The prosecution has already indicted four suspects and is seeks to prosecute three more.

＾They tried to entice 20 or more Posdata workers to steal all the source technology of WiBro. Then, they hoped to earn 180 billion won ($192 million) by selling the technology,'''' Lee said.

Lee said the suspects had committed the crime felonies after failing to get promotions at a time they wanted.

Samsung Elecronics, the world''s third-largest cell phone maker, has spent about 500 billion won ($536 million) to develop the go-anywhere Internet platform while Posdata also contributed 90 billion won ($96.6 million).


Source: NewsEdge