KT, South Korea’s No. 2 mobile operator, is reportedly looking to sell around 300,000 units every year in a nation where 93 percent subscribe to mobile services.
The iPhone has been held up in South Korea because regulators require handsets sold in Korea to use domestic locating (GPS) technology.
The rules have been aimed at protecting the domestic mobile phone market, and has helped handsets made by local companies Samsung Electroncs and LG Electronics dominate Korea for years.
But the Korea Communications Committee announced on Tuesday that it would make an exception to the wildly popular device.
“With the entry of new technology, the law needs to be reinterpreted as well, in consideration of consumer rights and global trends,” said Hyung Tae-gun, a KCC board member.
Apple earlier this month struck a deal to distribute iPhones in China. Apple will work with China Unicom, but it also is in talks with China Mobile to add the service.
Apple has been able to entice developers worldwide to build apps for the iPhone, with 75,000 apps available and 1.8 billion apps downloaded so far.
While numerous adult companies have built apps that include nudity for the iPhone, all have been rejected for public distribution.
One app, called “Hottest Girls,” lasted only a matter of hours before Apple pulled the plug after the developer was found to have skirted its censors by adding adult content after the review took place.
Another company, however, is finding success in marketing non-nude images of porn performers.
The apps, developed by Grindhouse Mobile, focus on two stars — Sunny Leone and Aria Giovanni. The programs are both now available as downloads for iPhone and iPod Touch users.
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