Korea to offer "number portability" for landline to internet phone service

Korea is prepping for a new rule issued, that allows Korean landline users to switch to an Internet-based telephone carrier without having to change their phone numbers. The Korean government plans to activate the “number portability” rule in the first half of 2008.

Up until the ruling of this new process, Korean Internet-phone users were obligated to change their phone number to have a prefix of “070”. The new rule aims at reducing phone costs, since Internet telephone technology reduces the cost of long distance calls.