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| Hwang Chang-gyu KT Chairman | Jang Dong-hyung SK Telecom President and CEO |
By Lee Min-hyung
LAS VEGAS -- Heads of Korea's major mobile carriers will fly to Las Vegas to attend the world's biggest technology fair, seeking new profit generators amid sluggish growth in the already saturated local telecom market.
Officials said Sunday that SK Telecom President and CEO Jang Dong-hyun and KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu plan to join CES 2016 which will run from Jan. 6-9 in the U.S. desert city, searching for business opportunities converged with their strong expertise as network platform service providers.
The event has expanded from its namesake title of "electronics show" into a converged venue to showcase a wider range of devices within the framework of the Internet of Things (IoT).
The Mobile World Congress (MWC) has been carriers' major focus, but they have been turning their eyes to CES as well in recent years amid a rising demand for connected devices through network systems.
"Demand for wirelessly connected devices keeps rising, and that's why mobile carriers identify not just MWC but CES as one of the most important events for their business operation," said an SK Telecom official.
"The company chief is expected to meet plenty of clients in the IoT sector, and seek partnerships to find new growth engines."
The move is part of the company's efforts to become what it calls a global media platform provider, with the number of mobile phones in Korea reaching more than 57 million, exceeding the 51 million population.
Last week, the company announced it would split up SK Planet, the carrier's online-to-offline (O2O) service affiliate, into three independent companies. The decision came as SK Telecom seeks to respond quickly to the fast-changing environment and tackle the limited growth potential of the local telecom market, said the company.
The KT chief is also expected to find more partnerships with clients working in the company's five new growth areas _ smart energy, integrated security, media platform, healthcare and a smart traffic control system.
"The main purpose of his visit is to look into the market trend in information and communication technology (ICT) sectors," said a KT official.
Expectations are that the company will meet with high-ranking officials from global IT companies and discuss cooperation models in the IoT, drones or the fifth-generation (5G) network system _ all of which are in their infancy and have yet to be fully commercialized.
In a year-end corporate reshuffle last month, the company created a platform business in a move intended to counter fierce market competition in the IoT sector.
Both telecom leaders are expected to seek ways to converge state-of-the-art devices or technologies, such as drones, virtual reality, augmented reality and the IoT, into the 5G network operation, which is expected to be commercialized by 2020.
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