LG Uplus pins hopes on LTE

Telecom carrier to commercialize world’s first all-IP based network


JEJU ― LG Uplus, the nation’s third-largest telecom carrier, on Friday unveiled a plan to introduce a new high-speed network integrating voice, data and other media.

“We will open a new era of telecom service, which has never been experienced thus far,” LG Uplus CEO Lee Sang-chul said during a news conference at the Ramada Plaza Jeju Hotel.

The First All-IP Seamless Total Network, or FAST, enables the multiple use of telecom services such as voice, data and video and offers users unrestricted wired and wireless access, the company said.

LG Uplus said it will start the world’s first nationwide service of the all-IP network as early as next year based on the company’s widespread long-term evolution network and more than 1 million Wi-Fi access points.

“We have long been at the bottom. And we will not be able to survive if we fail to change now. Starting an IP-based convergence service is a new turning point,” the CEO said.

The ambitious plan came as the distant third-place service provider is gaining fresh momentum through soaring sales of LTE smartphones.

LG Uplus, which was the first local telecom company to commercialize the LTE service in July, has sold 250,000 LTE phones as of Nov. 22. The number for SK Telecom, the market leader, exceeded 350,000.

The company plans to offer the LTE service in 84 cities across the nation, high-speed KTX trains and expressways within the year and to complete the nationwide coverage at every corner of the country by March, before its rivals.

With its sister company LG Electronics ailing from disappointing sales of its smartphones, LG Uplus has pinned its hope on its LTE business, investing 1.2 trillion won ($1.03 billion) this year alone.

The company, which is currently selling LG’s Optimus LTE and Samsung’s Galaxy S2 LTE, will launch the 5.3-inch Galaxy Note and 8.9-inch tablet PCs from Samsung and LG within the year. It also plans to release 80 percent of its new handset lineups next year with LTE phones, the company said.

Asked about the low possibility of the company becoming the nation’s No. 1 telecom operator, the CEO said “market leader” cannot always be defined by customer numbers.

“The sales of Apple are only one-tenth of Samsung. But the company is considered a market leader. When it comes to LTE, we want to be a true leader that presents the world’s best service,” Lee said.

During the media meeting on the day, he also hinted the company will start to offer the YouTube Leanback service via U+TV, LG Uplus’ Internet protocol television at the end of this year or early next year.

The YouTube service is a personalized channel that users can access on Google TV and the Web. It was one of the new projects Lee said he discussed with Google chairman Eric Schmidt when they met in Seoul early this month.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)