KoreaToday Qook services make KT cream of crop in IT sector

By Kim Yoo-chul

Staff reporter

KT, the nation's biggest fixed-line operator, is receiving more credits over the credibility of its high speed Internet service.

The unified "home services" brand "QOOK," stands for subscribers "cooking up and selecting quality services in any way they choose."

With this, KT's services for households including Internet, IPTV and home phones are now under the brand. KT said some 7.2 million South Korean users have registered in using the service.

To attract more customers, KT is putting on content-based 27 additional things to its QOOK Internet services via the zone.qook.co.kr.

By running various enhanced after-sales measures, KT is seeking to boost consumer satisfaction.

Over the last few years, KT has been operating its unique and consumer-friendly program called "Consumer Complaints Management System" or CCMS.

Under that program, KT is hoping for better efficiency to soothe possible consumer complaints of its Internet-related services.

By launching bundled packages with consumer manufacturers, KT is expanding its QOOK-combined services.

KT recently launched Skylife which combines its IPTV service QOOK with Skylife digital satellite broadcasting.

The new bundle offers 170 Skylife channels and 65,000 video-on-demand programs from QOOK TV.

The bundle costs 21,600 won per month with a three-year contract for the premium service, 18,000 won for the standard service, and 14,400 won for the basic service.

In addition to the launch of new bundles, KT also signed a deal with the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group for WiBro-enabled cars.

The first cars with wireless internet would be released in 2012. The Wibro service would offer a variety of services such as traffic updates, route assistance, weather forecasts, and entertainment.

"Amid the blurring lines between fixed and wireless services, KT's QOOK-branded expansionary services will pave the way for us to lead the digital wave and make consumers access various experiences with reasonable prices," KT CEO Lee Suk-chae said.

Officials say KT has been promoting the brand with a series of teaser advertisements that showed scenes of extreme hardship ending with a phrase meaning that time away from home can be very stressful.

"QOOK is a brand and we are not going to raise our targets based on the launch of a brand," according to Lee.