With 3W network, KT aims for leadership in wireless

Amid explosive wireless data, aim is to widen gap with rivals

By Kim Yoo-chul

Lee Suk-chae, the chairman of KT, has been set to steal the limelight from some top business leaders from the G20 and non-member countries at the G20 Business Summit by showing off improved capabilities to handle information and technology services.

In line with its ambitious strategies to become a “Mobile Wonderland” supported by its “3W” network consisting of 3G mobile communication (WCDMA), wireless LAN (Wi-Fi) and high-speed wireless Internet (WiBro), the KT CEO plans to get further business chances throughout separate meetings with his counterparts at major telecom companies.

The summit is also expected to lay some ground work for the nation’s top broadband operator to further promote its latest corporate transition to offer cloud computing services.

As the main telecommunication service provider for the G20 Business Summit and G20 Summit, KT will offer three respective IT services ― IPTVs, visual Web phones and mobile IPTV ― in 14 different languages.

Resulting from the partnership with various embassies in South Korea, KT is also responsible to air the Summit live via international new channels such as CNN International, France 24, NHK and CCTV9, in addition to providing technical Internet support to the foreign media, according to KT officials.

Amid an explosive growth in wireless data, which is mainly due to the rising popularity of smartphones and other multimedia, the nation’s second-biggest mobile carrier is aiming to eat up more shares in the highly-lucrative local wireless data market.

Back to the point, KT is aggressively pushing network strategies by increasing its spending and investments in the projects.

In detail, KT is planning to spend 5.1 trillion won from 2010 to 2014 to build what it claims are “total networks” eventually blurring the lines between wireless and broadband.

Of the amount, it has allocated 2.4 trillion won for 3G networks, while 1.67 trillion won will be used for smoother development of the next-generation telecommunication technology called long-term evolution or LTE, according to its senior spokesman Lee In-won.

The telecom giant is also set to invest a total of 800 billion won ― 550 billion won for WiBro and 250 billion won for Wi-Fi networks, in addition to 1,000 billion won for cloud computing.

The collaboration with the U.S.-based chip giant Intel represents its goal to improve the quality of WiBro services and expand coverage nationwide.

By March 2011, KT is aiming to be the first carrier in the world to offer nationwide WiMAX coverage with its WiBro service covering 84 cities in Korea, serving 85 percent of the total population, KT said in a statement to The Korea Times.

The complete package makes sense considering its brisk performance in the latest quarter. During the third quarter, it has seen an increase of 44 percent in operating profit backed by strong sales of iPhones.

Chief financial officer (CFO) Kim Yeon-hak said its target is to get 6 million smartphone customers by the end of 2011 from an estimated 2.5 million within this year as KT believes the smartphone boom will continue.

It has been in talks with Samsung Electronics to launch more models of Samsung’s Galaxy-branded smartphones, which is a good sign of mending the once souring corporate ties due to KT’s decision to introduce iPhones late last year.

Kim said KT, which is the exclusive domestic partner to sell iPhones, is planning to sell 1 million units of the iPad _ a rather conservative target. The tablet PC will roll out within this month.

Mobile office: emerging business

With steady hands in the wireless-related businesses, the teleco has begun yielding some results in the market for mobile offices.

Previously, workers were unable to conduct most of this unless they were logged on to a desktop PC or a network-linked laptop. But the situation has changed as they can now do it all either from a smartphone or other mobile devices.

As firms become more relaxed about letting employees do business using smartphones, they are increasingly turning to enterprise applications that can run on mobile devices.

KT is hoping to ride on the new telecom wave.

Amid the convergence moves seen in the telecommunication industry, a growing number of companies are asking telecos to provide customized platforms to build “cyber offices.’’

As of the end of October, KT has won some 570 projects that relate to mobile offices. Officials say it has been receiving calls from the fields of education, health, public sectors and manufacturing.

For instance, the world’s biggest shipyard Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) and the world’s No. 3 Samsung Heavy are planning to use KT’s mobile platforms for better management in administrative jobs.

``Several big hospitals, esteemed colleges and even state-owned companies have recently decided to create efficient work areas by using KT’s `3W’ networks,’’ Lee of KT said.

For an effective push, KT has been partnering with 36 solution providers and in internal talks to further develop more handset models that are customized to the needs of separate clients.

KT’s own economic institute expects the local market for mobile offices to reach 5.90 trillion won in volume by 2014 from last year’s 2.90 trillion won.