South Korea’s leading broadband and mobile carrier KT Corp. would reinvent itself to intelligence-based platform provider by increasing the revenue share of non-traditional telecommunications sector to 20 percent to 30 percent from current 10 percent within the next three years, its chief executive said.

“Our new business focus would be media, smart energy, public and corporate value enhancement, financial transactions, and anti-disaster or safety field,” said Hwang Chang-gyu said in an address to a new year’s workshop held in the firm’s headquarters in Bundang, Seongnam, in southern Gyeonggi Province, over the weekend.

Hwang won a second term at KT last month. His extended term requires approval from the general shareholders’ meeting in March.

The company would move beyond the traditional role of fixed-line and wireless service carrier to expand in Internet TV, big data, Internet of Things, and cloud computing.

KT logged revenue of 14.5 trillion won ($12.7 billion) in 2016. Of it, non-telecommunications services contributed 1 to 2 trillion won. KT aims to triple the share in estimated revenue of 17 trillion won in 2020 led by its fifth-generation (5G) wireless network which will be deployed at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, and commercially serviced in 2019. KT claims it is the world’s first to service 5G, the next-generation wireless network technology that can deliver data 20 times faster than current mainstream long term evolution (LTE) service.

“We need an entirely new perspective, ways, and goal to break out of the current stagnant growth model,” he said.

KT must lead innovation not only in ICT, but all across the industry. From this year, it will contribute to improving environmental and public safety standards, he said.

By Lim Sung-hyun

[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]