South Korea's largest mobile phone operator said Thursday that it will
offer cell phone users a new noise service that it says will repel
mosquitoes.

SK Telecom Co. said subscribers can pay 3,000 won (US.50) to download
a sound wave that is inaudible to human ears but annoys mosquitoes
within a range of three feet. Customers can then play the sound by
hitting a few buttons on their mobile phones.

The company claimed that the service worked during tests.

The service, which begins Monday, has one drawback: it consumes as
much battery power as normal cell phone rings.

SK Telecom has 17 million subscribers and controls a little over 50
percent of the domestic market.