LG Uplus, Kakao roll out joint navigation service

Moon Hyun-il, left, who is in charge of LG Uplus' mobile services, and Ahn kyu-jin, an executive director at Kakao Mobility, celebrate the launch of the two companies' joint navigation service, Tuesday. / Courtesy of LG Uplus

By Jun Ji-hye

LG Uplus and Kakao Mobility jointly released a new navigation service Tuesday, taking the first step toward their technical cooperation in the promising future mobility sector.

The launch of the U+ Kakao Navi service came after the mobile carrier and the Kakao subsidiary in charge of transportation services signed a memorandum of understanding in September to establish an autonomous driving environment and develop fifth-generation (5G) network-based services in the traffic-related field.

The telecom company said it will apply a “zero-rating” policy to its LTE and 5G subscribers to enable them to use the new navigation service without data deductions from their monthly cap.

Through the cooperation, LG Uplus will be able to significantly improve the quality of the mobile navigation service, while Kakao Mobility is expected to expand its user base.

“We will continue to carry out cooperative projects with Kakao Mobility to offer distinguished services to users,” an LG Uplus official said.

LG Uplus had jointly operated the navigation system ONE NAVI with another mobile carrier, KT, but failed to secure competitive power. The domestic mobility services market has been largely dominated by the nation's top mobile carrier SK Telecom and Kakao Mobility.

ONE NAVI was ranked fourth in a user satisfaction survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency.

LG Uplus' work with Kakao Mobility is seen as a strategy to create new business opportunities through cooperation with one of the leading companies in the mobility services market, rather than releasing its own products.

The telecom company said ONE NAVI users can convert their navigation system to the U+ Kakao Navi service through a software upgrade. They can also download an application from Google Play and the One Store.

The company said the U+ Kakao Navi service offers quick and accurate driving directions as it utilizes massive amounts of data accumulated through Kakao Mobility's Kakao T platform that offers various mobility related services including taxi-hailing, navigation systems, parking and chauffeur services.

The new service also features a voice recognition function powered by Kakao's artificial intelligence platform Kakao i, enabling users to change destination or play music through voice commands.