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| Yoon Kyung-lim, right, head of KT's future business division, delivers a welcome speech at an event to celebrate the launch of the "GiGA IoT Alliance" in Pangyo on the outskirts of Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of KT |
By Kim Yoo-chul
KT, the nation's No.2 mobile carrier, has teamed with about 100 domestic and foreign firms to launch an alliance for businesses focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT).
The "GiGA IoT Alliance," in which China Mobile, Samsung Electronics, Nokia and Microsoft are key members, will help local ventures and software engineers develop business ideas into products, the company said Tuesday.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) provided administrative and financial incentives for the alliance.
"Anyone who has fresh ideas, patents or startups can benefit from support programs," Kim Young-wan, a KT spokesman said.
The Alliance has established the GiGA IoT Business Collaboration Center, in addition to offering the online systems of KT-Nokia IoT lab, GiGA IoT portal and other software platforms, to help develop business ideas.
"Beyond products based on IoT technology, KT will look into industrial and public sectors that have huge growth potential and are promising, such as smart cars and energy systems, to take broader steps into new businesses," Kim said. "By 2015, KT aims to grow 100 ventures that can compete globally."
The company has agreed with its partners to move on establishing a global standard in IoT, what it calls the "IoT Data Ecosystem," though Kim declined to specify.
KT is the first local carrier to commercialize its new, faster LTE service, dubbed GiGA LTE. GiGA combines LTE tech with Wi-Fi connections.
Theoretically, the service will offer download speeds up to 1.17 gigabytes per second, which is 15 times faster than normal LTE connections and four times faster than tri-band LTE-Advanced (LTE-A).
Because of such advantages, KT is on track to put the faster LTE technology into connected business systems as network stability is the key to power products and services within the IoT framework.
KT said its collaboration center will support startups, providing room for its members to test the latest wireless technology and demonstrate their products to clients.
"It's free to use installed equipment for verification, commercialization and authorization of development," a spokesman said. "KT dispatched about 20 experts in IoT technology to the center."
KT will hold contests to inspire young entrepreneurs to submit more innovative business ideas. It also is in discussions with more companies to persuade them join the alliance.
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