The next-generation 5G mobile communications and the “GiGa Internet” have been selected as KT’s top achievements of 2016.

KT held a ceremony to present the 5G task force and the team responsible for GiGa Internet services subscribers topping 2.5 million with the 2016 “Award of No. 1 KT Man.” KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu, other executives, staff and families were in attendance at KT’s building in Bundang, Gyeonggi-do, on Dec. 16.

The award program, which made its debut in 2015, is designed to hold up role models for about 60,000 KT executives and staff to their motivation. The top honor is not an individual prize, but an organizational award designed to promote collaboration.

The second rendition of the award was an occasion to give words of encouragement and praise for the remarkable achievements KT made in the Korean and overseas ICT markets.   

The 2016 winners were presented with 100 million won in cash and an overseas trip coupon worth 10 million won. The 2015 award went to the All-In-Home Development Task Force in recognition of the development of the Wizwtick, a USB-type portable security platform.   

The cash prize for the 2016 winners doubled to 100 million won.

The 5G task force has been credited with successfully transferring the first 5G call (data) for the first time in the world last October and leading global standards on 5G mobile communications. The team earned points for successfully realizing 5G-based media services, including VR and holograms, which will be made available during the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games. With the goal of demonstrating the world’s first 5G services, KT is showing off its leadership in the Korean and global communications markets. 

KT Chairman Hwang delivered a keynote speech at the 2015 Mobile World Congress in which he presented the future of a 5G world, fascinating those with the global communications field.

In July 2015, KT opened the 5G R&D Center, and this past June, the company established the first 5G PyeongChang standards. In November, KT redoubled efforts to usher in an era of 5G by inaugurating the PyeongChang 5G Center at the Alpensia, one venues of the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics.

The team responsible for GiGa Internet services subscribers topping 2.5 million has been praised for topping the important 2 million GiGa Internet service subscriber milestone one year and 11 months after the service was inaugurated. In October 2014, KT succeeded in commercializing the industry’s first GiGa Internet, 10 times faster than the conventional internet, making a quantum jump in terms of internet speed. KT’s GiGa Internet aims at surpassing 2.5 million subscribers in January 2017.

Kim Sung-gwan, deputy general manager, who received the top award as the representative of the 5G task force, said, “I extend whole-hearted thanks to my seniors and juniors who have made strenuous efforts day and night to develop the equipment and services for R&D and network buildup by joining the 5G task force.”