By Yoon Sung-won
KT said Tuesday it has launched an Internet of Small Things (IoST) service based on the world's first nationwide long-term evolution machine (LTE-M) network dedicated to IoST services.
As part of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, IoST allows massive connectivity between sensors collecting low-volume data, with minimum electricity consumption. Thanks to such high efficiency, easy installation and maintenance, IoST technology is expected to quantitatively boost the application of IoT technology.
KT said it will pour in 150 billion won ($128.73 million) into establishing the narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) network and offer about 100,000 IoST sensor modules for developers, aiming at vitalizing the IoST business ecosystem here.
"We will provide 100,000 IoST telecom modules for free and offer the service without charge this year. We will pour 150 billion won into this sector, which is an aggressive investment," KT's IoT business division senior vice president Kim June-keun said during a press conference in central Seoul, Tuesday. "We aim at increasing the number of connected IoST modules to 4 million by 2018 to lead the IoT business."
He said IoST can be applicable to every industrial sector, from manufacturing to agriculture. Sensors attached to manufacturing lines will enable factory automation and boost industrial safety.
"We will provide modules almost limitlessly to developers to fulfill diverse business needs that we cannot yet imagine," he said.
Kim also pledged to seek mutual growth with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in this business.
"Most of our IoST partners are SMEs. We will seek promising opportunities with them and achieve mutual growth," he said.
Vice president of KT's platform business planning office Kim Seok-jun underlined the need for IoST to enable massive connectivity, compared to gigabit network technologies required to realize super-fast speeds.
"In the era of hyperconnectivity, we need more connectivity for sensors and devices and this will bring us new business opportunities," he said.
On Tuesday, the telecom company showcased diverse IoST services such as a bicycle security management system and a smart blood transportation box, based on its LTE-M network.
KT said the LTE-M standard has been considered more stable than other IoST technologies such as SIGFOX and LoRa because it does not suffer telecom quality degradation due to frequency interference. It is also more expandable on the international scale through global roaming, it said.
Advancing to the LTE-M standard, KT said it will push for the world's first launch of a nationwide NB-IoT network by completing service testing within the final quarter of this year. The NB-IoT network is expected to cover a wider range of areas and support 10 times faster network speeds compared to LTE-M, the company said.
KT said Tuesday it has launched an Internet of Small Things (IoST) service based on the world's first nationwide long-term evolution machine (LTE-M) network dedicated to IoST services.
As part of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies, IoST allows massive connectivity between sensors collecting low-volume data, with minimum electricity consumption. Thanks to such high efficiency, easy installation and maintenance, IoST technology is expected to quantitatively boost the application of IoT technology.
KT said it will pour in 150 billion won ($128.73 million) into establishing the narrow-band IoT (NB-IoT) network and offer about 100,000 IoST sensor modules for developers, aiming at vitalizing the IoST business ecosystem here.
"We will provide 100,000 IoST telecom modules for free and offer the service without charge this year. We will pour 150 billion won into this sector, which is an aggressive investment," KT's IoT business division senior vice president Kim June-keun said during a press conference in central Seoul, Tuesday. "We aim at increasing the number of connected IoST modules to 4 million by 2018 to lead the IoT business."
He said IoST can be applicable to every industrial sector, from manufacturing to agriculture. Sensors attached to manufacturing lines will enable factory automation and boost industrial safety.
"We will provide modules almost limitlessly to developers to fulfill diverse business needs that we cannot yet imagine," he said.
Kim also pledged to seek mutual growth with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in this business.
"Most of our IoST partners are SMEs. We will seek promising opportunities with them and achieve mutual growth," he said.
Vice president of KT's platform business planning office Kim Seok-jun underlined the need for IoST to enable massive connectivity, compared to gigabit network technologies required to realize super-fast speeds.
"In the era of hyperconnectivity, we need more connectivity for sensors and devices and this will bring us new business opportunities," he said.
On Tuesday, the telecom company showcased diverse IoST services such as a bicycle security management system and a smart blood transportation box, based on its LTE-M network.
KT said the LTE-M standard has been considered more stable than other IoST technologies such as SIGFOX and LoRa because it does not suffer telecom quality degradation due to frequency interference. It is also more expandable on the international scale through global roaming, it said.
Advancing to the LTE-M standard, KT said it will push for the world's first launch of a nationwide NB-IoT network by completing service testing within the final quarter of this year. The NB-IoT network is expected to cover a wider range of areas and support 10 times faster network speeds compared to LTE-M, the company said.
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