KT connects LTE to CCTV for maritime safety

A fisherman demonstrates KT Telecop’s advanced closed-circuit television maritime security system, Sea Black Box. The company said Sea Black Box provides a stable monitoring system based on KT’s broadband long-term evolution networks. / Courtesy of KT

By Yoon Sung-won

KT Telecop is expanding the coverage of its video security service from land to sea by connecting its closed-circuit television (CCTV) systems to long-term evolution (LTE) mobile networks, the company said, Thursday.

The security service affiliate of the nation’s second-largest telecom company launched a maritime safety CCTV service, Sea Black Box, earlier this year to help fishermen monitor and manage their docked boats using computers or smartphones.

“The CCTV-based security system service is helping fishermen lessen concerns about possible damage, and theft of their boats and fishing gear,” a KT Telecop official said.

Unlike existing CCTV systems for fishing boats, which are vulnerable to salinity, the two-megapixel camera module in Sea Black Box can resist water and dust, and has an infrared light sensor to produce a clear image even at night.

“The 410,000-pixel CCTV cameras, which are widely used for boats here, produce low-resolution images which are difficult to use as definite evidence for accidents, and they frequently break down as they are vulnerable to salty wind,” the official said. “KT Telecop’s maritime CCTV system works stably on the sea and can produce images clear enough to be legal evidence.”

Tapping into KT’s LTE technology, Sea Black Box users can monitor the condition of their boat in real time using smartphones or computers not only when the boat is docked but while it is sailing.

Thanks to KT’s broadband LTE coverage and LTE router technologies, users can monitor boats up to 30 kilometers away.

Sea Black Box works with a dedicated mobile application and automatically notifies if any equipment fails. It also supports a remote maintenance function that enables quick recovery from a system failure, the company said.

“We believe that CCTVs will be used in more diverse areas besides land and maritime applications,” the KT Telecop official said. “For this reason, visual security services need to improve from the customers’ perspective. We will continue to connect information and communications technologies to expand our portfolio of security services in the future.”