KT to transition to IT convergence group

KT Corp. said Thursday it will make the transition to an information technology convergence group from a telecom service firm, with plans devised to have non-telecom businesses take up 45 percent of overall sales by 2015.

The country’s largest fixed-line service operator also announced it targets 40 trillion won ($37 billion) in sales ― 6 trillion won in IT service and media, 8 trillion won in finance, auto and security, 4 trillion won in global projects and 22 trillion won in telecom services ― in 2015. Total sales in the four sectors recorded 25 trillion won in 2010.

Stating that the portion of non-telecom projects made up 27 percent of accumulated sales last year, KT expects to gain from the increasing competitiveness of IT services based on cloud computing, according to KT chairman Lee Suk-chae.

“Korea and KT could become global leaders in the field of operation and management and we could meet that challenge through securing cloud computing skills and media contents,” he said in a press conference held in downtown Seoul.

“However, the software industry is one that could be tackled with heavily concentrated, organized and long-term efforts. The easiest and most meaningful part in that sector right now is the mobile application market and I believe Korea has a role to play here.”

KT is a member of a multinational alliance, Wholesale Applications Community, which was initiated in February of last year and participated by international telecom firms to form an open mobile applications platform.

“People said WAC wouldn’t work at first but it’s proving its effectiveness through technology development and soon an era will come where a population of 4 billion uses the global app market,” said Lee. “I’m certain that this market will transform into a new market and offer new growth as well as workplaces. The main player here will be the telecom firms for strong networks and systems for the software developers would be required.”

He said the company will further expand into the international market with business network solutions, cloud computing technologies and network management skills.

“A variety of business models related to our media and N-Screen (numerous screen) services are also among the possible options to send overseas,” said Lee. “We will also continue to venture into foreign countries that are not equipped with proper telecom services.”

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)