KT Corp., South Korea’s leading telecom service operator, is transforming itself into a real estate company by building and selling new apartments and supplying rental houses through KT Estate Inc., its property development unit. The company’s move to expand its presence in a new business area comes as it judged that it needs a solution to make use of its previous fixed-line exchange stations after a merge with its mobile unit amid rapid advancement in communications technology.

As part of the latest move, KT Estate said on Wednesday that it has launched its very own rental housing brand called Remark Vill and with it, it plans to become a leading provider of rental apartments. The brand name is a combination of “Remaking Value,” “Remarkable Life,” and “Real Landmark.”

Choi Il-sung, head of KT Estate, said that the company will supply private rental houses, reflecting an increase in the number of single- or two-member households, growing preference for monthly rents over a lump-sum deposit and the government’s policy efforts to expand the number of privately-built rental houses.

KT Estate is expected to provide a total of 2,231 rental houses under its new brand this year starting July in four regions - 797 studios and city-life houses in Heungin-dong, Jung District; 760 houses in Yeongdeungpo; 128 houses in Gwanak, all in Seoul, and 546 houses in Daeyeon-dong, Busan.

KT Corp. has decided to engage more in the property market with its previous telephone exchange offices that have remained idle after the merge with its mobile unit.

Moon Kwang-eok, director of development business at KT Estate, said that previously, before the popularization of optical fiber cables, the company needed at least one telephone exchange office in every four to five kilometers. With the advancement of technology, however, the company does not need as many fixed-line offices - only one office in every 10 to 15 kilometers is enough.

According to KT Corp., KT Group currently has about 450 telephone exchange offices on a site of about 3.63 million square meters across the country. Among them, nine office sites are currently being considered for real estate development by KT Estate. KT has also already built Richeville apartment complex for 439 households in Yeonsu-dong in Chungju, North Chungcheong Province, in one of the unused sites and have sold them.

KT also operates KD Living Inc., a rental housing management company. KT set up the unit jointly with Japan’s rental housing management firm Daiwa Living Co. in 2012. KT owns 51 percent of the company, while the remaining by Daiwa Living.

By Shin Soo-hyun

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