Korea

Korea's largest Internet provider is investing more than $1 billion to put fiber optic lines in every home in South Korea by 2010, according to the Korea Herald.

The newspaper reports that KT, with 45% of the Internet market, is upgrading in order to meet an expected surge in demand for high speeds. They're placing a bet that Koreans will want faster service to support Internet Protocol Television, which requires high speeds for its promised interactivity.

They're not alone. The second-largest provider is also investing heavily in improved service. The Korea Herald reports that Hanarotelecom has spent heavily this year to upgrade networks, hoping to enable customers' connections to run at 100 Mbps.

Across Korea, Internet users are switching from older ADSL and VDSL lines to faster services, like LAN and HFC connections. It shows that consumer demand will reward private companies who commit to improving access and service.