KT Corp., South Korea's top fixed-line operator and No. 2 mobile carrier, said Tuesday it will spend 5.1 trillion won ($4.31 billion) on fixed-line and wireless networks over the next four years to brace for surging data traffic.
The company, the exclusive domestic operator of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, said it will allocate 2.4 trillion won for third-generation (3G) cellular networks and 1.67 trillion won for Long Term Evolution (LTE) services, also known as fourth-generation (4G) networks.
Its rival and biggest mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. said earlier that it will provide a commercial LTE service from next year. Global telecom operators are counting on LTE technology as more users of smartphones or Internet-enabled cellphones surf the Web on those devices.
KT said it will also widen its wireless Internet coverage with combined outlays of 800 billion won in wireless fidelity (WiFi) and a high-speed wireless broadband technology called WiBro.
The investment plan includes 100 billion won in cloud computing, or renting servers to enable customers to store and access data on the Internet, the company said.
The move is aimed at preparing for the expected surge in data traffic as the mobile carrier plans to accumulate 6 million smartphone subscribers and 1 million tablet PC users by the end of 2011.
Data traffic rose three-fold in the six months ended on May 31 and smartphone users are consuming 21 times more data than conventional cellphone subscribers, according to KT.
The company, which sold 850,000 iPhones from their debut in November 2009, is planning to introduce the latest model, the iPhone 4, in a couple of months, after a delay from its original release date of July 30.