KT has already announced a plan to test-operate the next-generation 5G telecom network during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games for the first time in the world. KT, which goes beyond its conventional mainstay businesses mobile and wired telecom services, is expected to spearhead the advent of the 4th Industrial Revolution by commercializing the 5G telecom technology in 2019 and advancing AI technology as well as expanding businesses to new and renewable energies.
KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu said, “(We) will demonstrate how the 5G technology will dramatically change lives during the PyeongChang Olympics.” The new technology will create a new media paradigm in which people can enjoy games from the same point of view as players, and they feel real as if they play among a team of players, he said. To this end, KT test-operated and demonstrated 5G transmission technologies on seven times for the first time in the world last year. The telecom service provider has secured and patented about 90 5G-related technologies.
Unlike the previous generation network focusing on speed, KT said the upcoming 5G network will be a differentiation network that is capable of transmitting huge amounts of data at a faster speed and without interruptions as well as being “intelligent,” he said. Chairman Hwang proposed artificial intelligence in three areas positioning information, network and control capabilities. He predicted that combining a 5G network with IoT, bid data and artificial intelligence would dramatically innovate not only the lifestyle, but also the industrial paradigm.
KT is also attaching priority to so-called “smart energy” by combining IT and the energy industry. In January 2015, KT inaugurated the Smart Energy Business Team under the control of the Future Convergence Business Implementation Office and declared it the first year of its energy business. The team has since opened the energy integration control center, dubbed “KT-MEG,” the first such one in the world. It is now implementing a diverse range of businesses, from production to consumption and transaction, following the outcomes of its two-year operation. In particular, the team is endeavoring to promote low-carbon power generation and new energy industry businesses with a focus on such core businesses as new and renewable energies.
Of late, the Smart Energy Business Team is focusing on further expanding the smart energy business to energy storage systems (ESS), so it is accelerating investments into the related business arena. In particular, the team is striving to develop its own energy management system (EMS), a core operation system of the ESS sector. Starting this year, the team plans to commercialize the full-fledged operation of building energy conservation systems connected with new and renewable energies. KT plans to accelerate efforts to nurture the artificial intelligence sector by demonstrating the AI TV, dubbed “GiGa Jenie” combining IPTV and AI.
GiGa Jenie, which debuted in late January, is not only the name of the new IPTV set-top box outfitted with a speaker and a camera, but is also an AI-based home secretary service. GiGa Jenie offers four services, including connections with Olleh TV and Jenie music, AI-based home secretary service, and voice and video calls. Users can speak t GiGa Jenie to hear TV content or music, to have foods delivered at home or to call KaKao Taxi.
KT is attempting to converge GiGa Jenie with other industries. In April, KT signed an MOU with Mirae Asset Daewoo to apply GiGa Jenie’s voice recognition and AI technologies to the financing information sector. The deal is designed to enable the confirming of stock prices, indexes and the suggesting of stocks and financial products through voice. GiGa Jenie has seen its membership top 20,000 subscribers in seven weeks since making its debut, and membership will likely surpass 100,000 and 500,000 subscribers by early next month and late this year, respectively, a KT official said.
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