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KT Corporation (
Hangul The Korean alphabet is the modern writing system for the Korean language. In North Korea, the alphabet is known as (), and in South Korea, it is known as (). The letters for the five basic consonants reflect the shape of the speech organs ...
: 주식회사 케이티), formerly Korea Telecom, is a South Korean telecommunications company,
mobile network operator A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a mobile network provider, mobile network carrier, mobile , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, wireless operator, wireless telco, or cellular company, is a telecommunications provider of se ...
(MNO) and
mobile virtual network operator A mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) is a wireless communications services provider that does not own the wireless network infrastructure over which it provides services to its customers. An MVNO enters into a business agreement with a mobil ...
(MVNO). KT is the third-largest wireless carrier in South Korea, with 13.5 million subscribers as of Q4 2023. The formerly fully-state-owned firm (the government's
National Pension Service The National Pension Service (NPS; ) is a public pension fund in South Korea. It is the third largest in the world with over $800 billion in assets, and is the largest investor in South Korea. The system functions as part of a national social se ...
currently owns 12.19% shares and is the largest shareholder) is South Korea's first telecommunications company and is a major supplier of the local landline and broadband internet market, serving about 90 percent of the country's fixed-line subscribers and 45 percent of high-speed Internet users. After selling its wireless affiliate Korea Mobile Telecom in 1994, KT returned to the wireless market with the creation of PCS carrier KTF in January 1997. The company's merger with KTF, its
wireless Wireless communication (or just wireless, when the context allows) is the transfer of information (''telecommunication'') between two or more points without the use of an electrical conductor, optical fiber or other continuous guided transm ...
subsidiary, in 2009 made it the country's ninth largest
chaebol A chaebol ( , ; , ) is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Kore ...
(conglomerate) with nearly 24 trillion won in assets as of 2009. In January 2011, KT launched unified brand "Olleh" for both fixed-line and cellular broadband services.


Company overview

Founded in 1981 as a
public utility A public utility company (usually just utility) is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service (often also providing a service using that infrastructure). Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and ...
, KT played a major role in Korea's development in the information technology hub sector. KT sold its wireless
affiliate Affiliation or affiliate may refer to: * Affiliate (commerce), a legal form of entity relationship used in Business Law * Affiliation (family law), a legal form of family relationship * Affiliate marketing * Affiliate network or affiliation platfo ...
in 1994, founding another in 1996 and becoming, along with LG Dacom, one of Korea's earliest
ISPs ISPS may refer to: * Isoprene synthase The enzyme isoprene synthase (EC 4.2.3.27) catalysis, catalyzes the chemical reaction : prenyl pyrophosphate \rightleftharpoons isoprene + diphosphate This enzyme belongs to the family of lyases, specifical ...
. In 2001 KT acquired struggling broadband provider
Thrunet SK Broadband, Inc. , formerly known as Hanaro Telecom, is a Seoul-based telecommunications company and a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Telecom. It is one of the largest broadband Internet access providers in South Korea. Until its takeover in 20 ...
, then the largest broadband company in Korea, which paved the way for KT to dominate the broadband market. In 2009, KT merged with its wireless subsidiary KTF, paving the way to the integration of landline and cellular services. Ever since KT introduced the Apple
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
to South Korea, it has been constantly seeking new business areas, such as media, e-commerce, and global business partnerships. The company has a well-distributed shareholder structure under which the
National Pension Service The National Pension Service (NPS; ) is a public pension fund in South Korea. It is the third largest in the world with over $800 billion in assets, and is the largest investor in South Korea. The system functions as part of a national social se ...
(NPS) is the largest shareholder (6.81% as of December 31, 2012), but NPS holds no managerial rights over the company. Under the current shareholder structure, no controlling shareholder exists.


History and milestones


Before privatization

*December 10, 1981: The company becomes incorporated as KTA. *1984: Tenth in the world to develop the electronic switch TDX-1. *1987: Nationwide automated
long-distance Long distance or Long-distance may refer to: *Long-distance calling *Long-distance operator *Long-distance relationship * Long-distance train *Long-distance anchor pylon, see dead-end tower Footpaths *Long-distance trail *European long-dista ...
network completed. *1991: Company renamed Korea Telecom. *1993: Total of approximately 20 million telephone lines installed (only 4.5 million existed in 1982), laying groundwork for the emerging information society. *1995: Mugunghwa Satellite No. 1 launched. *1996: Mugunghwa Satellite No. 2 launched. *1996: PCS and CT-2 license acquired. KT Freetel (
wireless carrier A mobile network operator (MNO), also known as a mobile network provider, mobile network carrier, mobile , wireless service provider, wireless carrier, wireless operator, wireless telco, or cellular company, is a telecommunications provider of se ...
) founded. *1997: Status changed from organization which has +50% state funding to one with a state funding of smaller scale (below 50%). *October 1, 1997: The new Public Corporation Business Structure Improvement & Privatization Act applied to KT (no longer exempted owing to the change in company status). *1998: Headquarters relocated from
Jongno-gu upright=1, Bosingak bell pavilion Jongno District () is one of the 25 districts of Seoul, South Korea. It is the historic center of Seoul that contains Gyeongbokgung, the main royal palace of the Joseon dynasty, and the Blue House, the for ...
, Seoul, to
Bundang-gu Bundang District () is the largest and most populous district (''Administrative divisions of South Korea, gu'') of Seongnam, a major city in the Seoul Capital Area, South Korea. Bundang District is one of South Korea's wealthiest and highest devel ...
,
Gyeonggi Province Gyeonggi Province (, ) is the most populous province in South Korea. Seoul, the nation's largest city and capital, is in the heart of the area but has been separately administered as a provincial-level ''special city'' since 1946. Incheon, ...
. *December 1998: Newly listed on stock exchange. *1999: Mugunghwa Satellite No. 3 launched. *June 2000: Managerial rights of Hansol M.com acquired. *December 2000:
IMT-2000 IMT-2000 (International Mobile Telecommunications-2000) is the global standard for third generation ( 3G) wireless communications as defined by the International Telecommunication Union. In 1999 ITU approved five radio interfaces for IMT-2000 as a ...
license acquired. *April 2001: Caller ID (CID) service launched.


After privatization

* May 2001: Plans for privatization announced. Celebrated 20th anniversary and changed name from Korea Telecom to KT. KT's telephone exchanges restructured into regional branch offices. "Let's" launched as the new company slogan. * 2002: Privatization of company finalized. *2002: KT ICOM, the third-generation mobile unit of KT Corp., merges with KT Freetel, the mobile subsidiary of KT Corp., to form a new company opening on March 1, 2003. *June 14, 2003:
Alcatel Space Thales Alenia Space () is a joint venture between the French technology corporation Thales Group (67%) and Italian defense conglomerate Leonardo (company), Leonardo (33%). The company is headquartered in Cannes, France. It provides space-based ...
announced its $148.5 million contract with KT Corp. to build Koreasat 5, South Korea's first civil-military communications satellite. *Oct 1, 2003: KT Corp. cuts 12.6% of its workforce due to stagnant sales and rivalry to save up to $280 million US dollars. *Oct 31, 2003: KT Corp. reports its first quarterly loss in seven years. The severance payments of cutting 12.6% of its workforce played a role in the loss. * 2005: According to Fair Trade Commission data, KT as a corporate group that holds 12 subsidiaries and total assets of 29.315 trillion won, ranked 8th among Korea's conglomerates. * December 28, 2005: Launched inter-Korean telecommunication services and opened KT branch office in North Korea's Gaesung industrial complex. * January 2009: Six days after inauguration as the new Chairman of KT, Suk-Chae Lee announced plans for KT-KTF merger at press conference. * March 2009: Received conditional approval from Korea Communications Commission (KCC) on KT-KTF merger. * April 2009: Debut of Qook, a service bundle brand. “Ann” landline phone, “Megapass” broadband and “Mega TV”
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
services were renamed “Qook Phone,” “Qook Internet” and “Qook TV,” respectively.


After KT-KTF merger

* June 1, 2009: KT and its wireless subsidiary KTF merged to form a new unified KT. * July 2009: Previous company slogan "All New" replaced with "Olleh Management,"and "Olleh KT" officially launched as the new CI. *November 2009: Launch of Qook and Show broadband services. * November 2009: Became first local carrier to launch Apple's iPhone in Korean market. * December 2009: Launched the first 3W (Wi-Fi, WiBro, WCDMA) smartphone " Show Omnia" in Korean market. * June 2010: Launched "uCloud", a
cloud-based Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
storage service. * August 2010: Company's internet services relaunched under the name "Olleh" in alignment with company slogan. * August 31, 2010: KT included as Dow Jones Sustainability World Index company. * September 10, 2010: Launched Apple's
iPhone 4 The iPhone 4 is a smartphone that was developed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the List of iPhone models, fourth generation of the iPhone lineup, succeeding the iPhone 3GS and preceding the iPhone 4s. Following a number of notable leaks, ...
in Korean market and unlimited 3G data plan. * November 11–12, 2010: the official telecommunications service provider for the G20 Seoul summit. * January 25, 2011: Fixed-line "Qook" and cellular "Show" broadband services were unified under the "Olleh" brand. They were renamed "Olleh Home" and "Olleh Mobile," respectively. * February 10, 2011: Acquired 20.05% of BC Card shares, emerging as the second-largest shareholder. * January 3, 2012: KT launched its LTE service. * September 2012: KT was awarded the Global Supersector Leader for Telecommunications (number 1 company in terms of sustainable business practices) by Dow Jones Sustainability Indexes for two consecutive years. *Dec 4, 2013: KT and Docomo's business relationship strengthens as both companies extend the business tie-up to January 2017. *2014: KT's 12 million customers’ data were hacked. *2014: KT and the Rwandan government announced the agreement for the establishment of Rwanda Olleh Services Ltd, a joint venture responsible for providing improved online services. * 2015: In late 2015, former KT president Suk-Jae Lee denies the charges of trust and embezzlement allegations. *2016: KT Corp. plans to provide 5G services at the
2018 Winter Olympics The 2018 Winter Olympics (), officially the XXIII Olympic Winter Games (; ) and also known as PyeongChang 2018 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held between 9 and 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang County, South Ko ...
held at
PyeongChang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...
, South Korea. At the event, KT claims that its wireless platforms would be able to provide service to 250,000 devices at once. *2017: In participation of the government-led programme, KT Corp. opens up 100,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, also known as access points (AP), mostly in subway trains. The government-led programme's aim is to improve access to public Wi-Fi. *2018: KT Corp. announces its plan to invest 23 trillion won into 5G and new telecommunication technologies over the next five years. *Sept 2018: KT Corp. launches its 5G Open Lab for testing 5G/IoT-based services which have attracted major corporations such as
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
,
Posco POSCO (formerly Pohang Iron and Steel Company) is a South Korean steel manufacturer headquartered in Pohang, South Korea. It had an output of of crude steel in 2015, making it the List of steel producers, world's sixth-largest steelmaker by thi ...
,
Hyundai Mobis Hyundai Mobis Company Limited (), commonly known as Hyundai Mobis, is a public South Korean car parts company which is a member of Hyundai Motor Group. Founded in 1977, the company currently forms the "parts and service" arm for the South Korean ...
,
Intel Intel Corporation is an American multinational corporation and technology company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, and Delaware General Corporation Law, incorporated in Delaware. Intel designs, manufactures, and sells computer compo ...
,
Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...
, and Nvidia's interest. *Nov 2018: KT Corp. commercializes 10 Gbit/s-capable broadband internet service for major cities in South Korea, including
Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...
,
Daegu Daegu (; ), formerly spelled Taegu and officially Daegu Metropolitan City (), is a city in southeastern South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; the fourth-largest List of provincial-level ci ...
, and
Busan Busan (), officially Busan Metropolitan City, is South Korea's second list of cities in South Korea by population, most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.3 million as of 2024. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economi ...
. *February 25, 2019: A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by KT Corp. and
Nokia Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational corporation, multinational telecommunications industry, telecommunications, technology company, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation, originally established as a pulp mill in 1 ...
to test 5G technologies such as NFV and network slicing. *March 25, 2019: KT Corp. signs a 5G commercial contract with Ericsson that will enable all South Korean residents to purchase 5G services starting April 2019. *May 3, 2019: KT Corp. and Samsung Electronics have signed a deal to supply public safety network solutions to ten major South Korean cities by 2020. *2020: At the SatelliteAsia 2020 exposition, the satellite-operating division of KT presented the world's first satellite-5G hybrid router transmission technology. *2021: KT Corp. becomes first in South Korea to commercialize 5G standalone (5G SA) technology reports ZDNet. This new 5G standalone technology will help reduce power and latency consumption for users. KT Corp. acquires , a South Korean telecommunications company. *2024: KT to supply US$450 mln worth of network infrastructure to Microsoft


Corporate governance

KT's Board of Directors (BOD) consists of three non-independent directors and eight outside directors, totalling eleven directors as of March 2012. The outside directors are nominated by the Outside Director Nomination Committee based on their expertise and business leadership, and hold office for less than three years. The BOD chairman is selected from among the outside directors and serves for a one-year term. The BOD consists of five standing subcommittees and two ad hoc subcommittees. If required, additional sub-committees may be set up. The current internal directors are Chang-Gyu Hwang (Chairman & CEO), Hyeon-myung Pyo and Il-yung Kim, and the external directors are Eung Han Kim (Board Chairman), Chun-Ho Lee, Hyun-nak Lee, Byong-won Bahk, Keuk-je Sung, Sang-Kyun Cha, Do-Kyun Song.


Services


Wireless

As of 2012 KT customers can receive the services on any of radio frequency band assigned, one or more of radio interfaces.


Smartphones and tablets

The KT Corp was the first operator to introduce the
iPhone The iPhone is a line of smartphones developed and marketed by Apple that run iOS, the company's own mobile operating system. The first-generation iPhone was announced by then–Apple CEO and co-founder Steve Jobs on January 9, 2007, at ...
to the South Korean market in November 2009. The
next generation Next Generation or Next-Generation may refer to: Publications and literature * ''Next Generation'' (magazine), video game magazine that was made by the now defunct Imagine Media publishing company * Next Generation poets (2004), list of young ...
model sold one million units within four months of its September 2010 launch. KT launched the
iPad The iPad is a brand of tablet computers developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple that run the company's mobile operating systems iOS and later iPadOS. The IPad (1st generation), first-generation iPad was introduced on January 27, 2010. ...
in November 2010.


Wi-Fi hotspots

As of June 2015, KT owns and operates more than 140,000 Wi-Fi hotspots under the name "KT Olleh WiFi zones."


4G LTE

KT discontinued 2G coverage in January 2012 in the Seoul area, and March 2012 in the rest of South Korea on the 1.8 GHz frequency, whichwill be reassigned for LTE network branded "Olleh LTE" (올레 엘티이)LTE coverage all over South Korea will be accomplished by June 2012. Dual-band LTE on the 900 MHz will be available in Seoul by the end of 2012.


GiGA LTE

In June 2015 KT announced it has teamed up with
Samsung Electronics Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (SEC; stylized as SΛMSUNG; ) is a South Korean multinational major appliance and consumer electronics corporation founded on 13 January 1969 and headquartered in Yeongtong District, Suwon, South Korea. It is curr ...
to combine Wi-Fi and LTE in a gigabit-speed mobile service called GiGA LTE. The new network is estimated to be 15 times faster than the existing LTE and four times faster than the tri-band
LTE-A LTE Advanced, also named or recognized as LTE+, LTE-A or 4G+, is a 4G mobile Cellular network, cellular communication standard developed by 3GPP as a major enhancement of the LTE (telecommunication), Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. Three tec ...
, the fastest wireless network currently available in the Korean market.


TRS

KT is the only operator that provides TRS in South Korea, as it merged t-on Telecom in September 2012.


Smart Home

In the first half of 2011, KT launched the "Kibot", a robot specially developed for the education and entertainment of children. The robot consists of features found on smartphones. In the second half of the year, KT plans to expand beyond voice services.


Mobile TV

KT launched the Mobile TV app, which enables customers to view live
IPTV Internet Protocol television (IPTV), also called TV over broadband, is the service delivery of television over Internet Protocol (IP) networks. Usually sold and run by a Telephone company, telecom provider, it consists of broadcast live telev ...
and
video on demand Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films Digital distribution, digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typica ...
on their smartphones and tablets.


Satellite Services

KT has operated the Koreasat fleet of satellites since 1995. Some of these satellites have been sold to
Asia Broadcast Satellite ABS is a global satellite operator and has offices in United Arab Emirates, Asia and United States. Operating 5 Communications satellite, communication satellites, the satellite fleet currently covers 93% of the world's population including the ...
while KT Corporation continues to provide some satellite services.


Global business


Bangladesh

On April 27, 2017, KT announced the launch of a ' GiGA Island' in Bangladesh, the result of multilateral partnerships with the Bangladesh government, international organizations, public institutions, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs). KT connected the Moheshkhali Island to the inland areas by installing the wireless network technology ‘GiGA Microwave’ and used copper-based KT's providing giga-level internet solution ‘GiGA Wires’ to circulate network traffic within the island. With the ‘GiGA Microwave’, the island could successfully receive 500 Mbit/s internet service, and the ‘GiGA Wire’ enables the island's internet speed at the most 100 Mbit/s. This enabled more than 30% of the residents in Moheshkhali to communicate with the world through high-speed internet.


Brunei

In 2012, KT contracted with the
Brunei Brunei, officially Brunei Darussalam, is a country in Southeast Asia, situated on the northern coast of the island of Borneo. Apart from its coastline on the South China Sea, it is completely surrounded by the Malaysian state of Sarawak, with ...
government to establish National Data Center (NDC) and its operation.


Mongolia

Since 1995, KT has been a major shareholder of Mongolia Telecom. KT dispatched business professionals to
Mongolia Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
and operated various training programs. In 2012, KT contracted with the Mongolian government for establishing an Earthquake Disaster Warning System (EDWS).


South Africa

In 2012, KT and Telkom signed for a consultancy agreement for providing business improvement strategies for mobile sector and iWayAfrica, Telkom's
subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company, or daughter company is a company (law), company completely or partially owned or controlled by another company, called the parent company or holding company, which has legal and financial control over the subsidia ...
for its
VSAT A very-small-aperture terminal (VSAT) is a two-way satellite ground station with a satellite dish, dish antenna that is smaller than 3.8 meters. The majority of VSAT antennas range from 75 cm to 1.2 m. Bit rates, in most cases, range from 4 ...
business.


Rwanda

In 2007, KT signed a contract to build a Mobile
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...
(or
WiBro WiBro (''wireless broadband'') was a wireless broadband Internet technology developed by the South Korean telecoms industry. WiBro is the South Korean service name for IEEE 802.16e (mobile WiMAX) international standard. Usage of the service ...
) network in Rwanda. In 2008, KT signed a deal with the Rwandan government to build the backbone its new telecommunication network. In December 2012, KT conducted a national information security project in Rwanda with Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA). In March 2013, KT signed a contract with the Rwandan government to establish the joint venture to build a nationwide mobile LTE network.


Poland

On March 21, 2013, KT, Daewoo International Corporation, and the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) signed an $18 million contract to establish high-speed Internet network in
Podlaskie Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to that region. The capital ...
,
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
. On October 3, 2013, the KT consortium signed a Public Private partnership (PPP) with the Mazowieckie province for a $130 million broadband project.


United States

On June 14, 2017, KT announced that it had signed an MOU with the city of Boston to participate in the Boston Digital Equity Project, a policy that aims to create a better internet environment across the city center. Under the agreement, KT will provide its GiGA Wire technology, a service that offers speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second using copper wire instead of optical cables, leveraging G.hn technology.


Uzbekistan

In 2007, KT acquired 54.5% of East Telecom, Uzbekistan's second-largest fixedline operator, and 60% of the shares of the
WiMAX Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) is a family of wireless broadband communication standards based on the IEEE 802.16 set of standards, which provide physical layer (PHY) and media access control (MAC) options. The WiMA ...
operator, Super iMAX.


KT Sports

KT Corporation sponsors an e-sport team and a number of sports teams and athletes, some of which were inherited from KTF before the merger. The corporate headquarters of KT Sports is located in
Suwon Suwon (; ) is the largest city and capital of Gyeonggi Province, South Korea's most populous province. The city lies approximately south of the national capital, Seoul. With a population of 1.2 million, Suwon has more inhabitants than Ulsan, tho ...
, where its baseball and basketball teams are located. * Suwon KT Sonicboom (men's basketball) – based in Suwon *
KT Wiz The KT Wiz (; stylized as kt wiz) are a South Korean professional baseball team based in Suwon. They are a member of the KBO League. Their home stadium is Suwon Baseball Stadium in Suwon. History On 11 January 2013, the Korea Baseball Organ ...
(baseball) – based in Suwon * KT Rolster (
StarCraft II ''StarCraft II'' is a real-time strategy video game created by Blizzard Entertainment, first released in 2010. A sequel to the successful '' StarCraft'', released in 1998, it is set in a militaristic far future. The narrative centers on a galacti ...
and
League of Legends ''League of Legends'' (''LoL'', commonly referred to as ''League'', is a multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. Inspired by ''Defense of the Ancients'', a Mod (video games), custom map for ''Warcraf ...
Professional Gaming Teams) – based in Seoul * KT Shooting Team (sports shooting) – based in Hwaseong *KT Hockey Team (men's
field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
) – based in
Seongnam Seongnam (; ) is the fourth largest city in South Korea's Gyeonggi Province after Suwon and the 10th largest city in the country. Its population is approximately one million. It consists of three administrative districts: Bundang District, J ...
In addition to the teams, KT is the main sponsor of the
South Korea national football team The South Korea national football team (; recognized as Korea Republic by FIFA) represents South Korea in men's international Association football, football and is governed by the Korea Football Association, a member of FIFA and the Asian Foot ...
and several
LPGA of Korea Tour The LPGA of Korea Tour is a South Korean professional golf tour for Women's sports, women. LPGA stands for Ladies Professional Golf Association. LPGA of Korea runs this tour, not the American LPGA. It is one of the world's five leading women's golf ...
golfers. One of KT Corporation's major corporate rivals is
SK Telecom SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT ( or ) is a South Korean wireless telecommunications operator and former film distributor and is part of the SK Group, one of the country's largest chaebols. It leads the local market with 50.5 perce ...
. Match-ups between teams owned by both companies are dubbed the "Telecommunications Derby" by the media. The rivalry is contested in esports and men's basketball. When SK owned a baseball team, the term was also applied to match-ups between
SK Wyverns SSG Landers () are a South Korean professional baseball, professional baseball team. The team was originally established as the SK Wyverns but was renamed as the SSG Landers in 2021 after Shinsegae acquired the team from SK Group. They are a membe ...
and KT Wiz. Due to KT Wiz being a relatively new franchise and having a poor record for much of its early years, the "rivalry" was largely one-sided and given less attention compared to esports and basketball, where such match-ups are generally hotly contested affairs.


Smart grid investment

KT is currently involved in the Jeju Smart Place
test bed A testbed (also spelled test bed) is a platform for conducting rigorous, transparent, and replicable testing of scientific theories, computing tools, and new technologies. The term is used across many disciplines to describe experimental research ...
project led by Korea's
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy (MOTIE; ) is a ministry under the Government of South Korea. It is concerned with regulating economic policy, especially with regard to the industrial and energy sectors. The ministry also works to enc ...
, which is being pursued for the purpose of testing and developing
smart grid The smart grid is an enhancement of the 20th century electrical grid, using two-way communications and distributed so-called intelligent devices. Two-way flows of electricity and information could improve the delivery network. Research is main ...
business models. The project is being conducted on 6,000 households in Jeju island's Gujwa-eup area, and is scheduled to be conducted over a period of 42 months from May 2009 to May 2013. The aim of the project is to provide an integrated energy management service and achieve the means for efficient energy usage by adopting renewable energy sources and energy storage devices. The project is being executed by the KT Consortium, which is composed of KT and fourteen other companies, including
Samsung Samsung Group (; stylised as SΛMSUNG) is a South Korean Multinational corporation, multinational manufacturing Conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered in the Samsung Town office complex in Seoul. The group consists of numerous a ...
SDI,
Hyosung Hyosung Group is a major South Korean conglomerate established in 1966. The company operates across diverse sectors including textiles, heavy industries, chemicals, and information & communication. History * 1966: Foundation of Tongyang Ny ...
, Samsung Electronics, and four contractors, with the focus being to conduct demonstration tests on electric power-communication convergence business models.


Controversy


KT Internet slowdown incident

On April 17, 2021, it was revealed that the 10-Gigabit Internet plan used by YouTuber ''It-seop'' was actually being serviced at 100 megabit. ''It-seop'' released the data on the speed test in the video, after which the controversy was published, and KT users repelled it. On April 19, 2021, KT explained that "the customer's information was incorrectly transferred due to an error in the process of moving the studio recently" and "For this reason, only 100 megabit would have been provided." Subsequently, KT officially acknowledged and apologized for causing inconvenience to customers at the 6 o'clock meeting.


Malware incident

In June 2024, following a
JTBC JTBC (shortened from Joongang Tongyang Broadcasting Company; ; stylized in all lowercase) is a South Korean nationwide pay television network. Its primary shareholder is JoongAng Holdings, with a 25% stake. It was launched on December 1, ...
investigation, it was revealed that KT remotely installed
malware Malware (a portmanteau of ''malicious software'')Tahir, R. (2018)A study on malware and malware detection techniques . ''International Journal of Education and Management Engineering'', ''8''(2), 20. is any software intentionally designed to caus ...
on the computers of 600,000 subscribers in order to throttle, disrupt and monitor their usage of the torrent protocol, a popular
peer-to-peer Peer-to-peer (P2P) computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads between peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the network, forming a peer-to-peer network of Node ...
file transfer protocol. A police investigation on the matter is ongoing.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Telecommunications companies established in 1981 Companies listed on the Korea Exchange Companies listed on the London Stock Exchange Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange Companies in the KOSPI 200 South Korean brands Telecommunications companies of South Korea