SOUTH KOREA - A 30-year-old office worker who wished to be identified only by his surname Kim spewed a steady stream of complaints as he walked around with his laptop at a cafe in downtown Seoul on Thursday, trying to get connected to the wireless Internet network.

Although the cafe was designated as a Wi-Fi hotspot by the country's leading mobile carrier SK Telecom, it took him numerous attempts to send an urgent e-mail to his client.

"It wasn't the first time this happened," he said. "When I asked the store employee why the wireless Internet wasn't working, her answer was that the complaint was frequent, and that I should try to connect to other unencrypted wireless networks instead."

There are many more users like Kim who have spent hours -- some have the time and patience to wait only minutes -- at cafes or other public areas that are supposed to offer seamless Internet services.

Market watchers say that the quality of wireless networks is being compromised due to the lack of fixed-line networks.

A wireless access point is attached to fixed-line networks for connecting wired communication devices to a wireless network using Wi-Fi.

What this means is that a strong fixed-line network is essential for Wi-Fi zones to offer fast and seamless Internet services.

But while companies have been eager to join the race for the Wi-Fi market to keep up with smartphones, they have been reticent about investing in the necessary framework or equipment for offering high-quality service.

Setting up fixed-line networks involves a lot of money which is part of the reason it has been shunned by the telecom firms.

Building such networks was also not a prioritized task for the country's top mobile carrier SKT which did not offer fixed-line services until its acquisition with SK Broadband earlier in 2008.

"For the telecoms, offering the free or affordable Wi-Fi services are not deemed as a move which could be welcomed (profit-wise), but they are all introducing the service because of customers' demands," said Kim Wook-joon, a researcher at the Korea Information Society Development Institute.

To address the complaints about the service quality, SKT is now attempting to build new fixed-line networks to make use of its base stations and equip the wireless zones with devices that transform Wi-Fi and WiBro signals to 3G signals.

3G networks have slower and weaker connections, but do not require fixed-line networks, while Wi-Fi is faster and better but needs fixed-line networks.

As the nation's No. 1 fixed-line operator, KT already has numerous fixed-line networks across the nation, unlike its other two rivals.

KT has, however, refused to lend SKT its fixed-line networks for the wireless zones.

"Since KT has a good network, it would be great if the firm lets us use some of its network," said an SKT official.

Despite the lack of profit, rival telecommunication companies have been competing for stronger footing in the wireless market with aim to access the more lucrative smartphone market.

KT Corp., the country's largest fixed-line operator, said it would construct up to 40,000 Wi-Fi zones by the end of this year, while its rivals SKT and LG Uplus said they will build 10,000 and 11,000 zones, respectively.

Wireless networks are under construction even on public transportation such as buses and subways.

KT is currently in the lead involving construction of wireless areas with a total of 32,339 Wi-Fi zones nationwide as it begun building the zones in July 2001. SKT is catching up with some 7,500.

Going a step further, SKT has pledged to open up its wireless networks to everyone who wishes to make use of them, including KT and LG Uplus customers.

KT, on the other hand, only provides the service for its own mobile service subscribers.