KT Corp. Sweeps Global Awards for Tech Innovations

• – KT Wins “Best Innovation for LTE to 5G Evolution” at AMO Awards
• – Also Awarded for 5th-Generation (5G) & AI Innovations at ACA 2018

KT Corp. (KRX: 030200; NYSE: KT), South Korea’s largest telecommunications company, is a demonstrated global leader in innovation with worldwide recognition for its achievements of developing the next-generation of wireless technology and information and communications technology (ICT).

The Korean telecom leader won the “Best Innovation for LTE to 5G Evolution” category at the Asia Mobile Awards (AMO Awards) during the Mobile World Congress (MWC) Shanghai 2018 held last month by the GSMA. These awards honor achievement, excellence and innovation in mobile communications in the Asia Pacific region.

The award highlights KT’s efforts to pioneer innovation and lead the next mobile revolution that the company’s chairman, Hwang Chang-Gyu, first envisioned in 2017. Korea’s top telecom operator is now preparing for the commercial launch of the country’s first nationwide fifth-generation (5G) wireless network in March 2019.

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“We are honored and proud that the world has recognized our strong commitment and achievement innovating 5G and ICT technologies,” said Lee Su-Kil, head of KT’s Network Research Technology Unit. “To materialize KT’s vision of becoming a global 5G technology leader, we will continue to put all efforts into planning to launch the world’s best commercial 5G network next year.”

KT also scooped the “5G Progress Award” and “The Innovation Award” in recognition of its outstanding leadership in 5G technology and artificial intelligence (AI) at the Asia Communication Awards (ACA) 2018 last month. The ACA recognizes both the companies and individuals driving the global success of the Asia-based telecom industry.

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GiGA Genie, KT’s voice-activated AI speaker, was launched in January last year. It is soon expected to attract 1 million subscribers and grow to 1.5 million by the end of this year. KT has the largest AI-speaker market share in South Koreaand the company is currently focusing on developing content for children, such as English-language learning, and also new services for people in apartments, hotels and cars.

According to a recent report from Reuters – titled “South Korea’s Futuristic Twist to Childcare (https://reut.rs/2MMn96u) –South Korea’s working parents are increasingly using AI to raise their children. “With an increasing number of dual-income families in South Korea, who’s helping to care for the little ones? Artificial intelligence,” said the report.

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Korea’s top telecom carrier was also named the “Best 5G Technology Trailblazer” at the Telecom Asia Awards 2018 in June, the region’s s longest-running industry awards program. KT beat out six companies in the Asia Pacific region that had competed for the honor.

At the PyeongChang Winter Olympic Games in February, KT successfully showcased trial 5G services with the world’s first 5G-ready network. The core network featured in the 5G trial was based on a fully re-designed 4G LTE’s core network. The function that handles data traffic was separated and moved to the edge communications center — much closer to the base stations than in the LTE network. The trial network also improved the 5G core network’s operational efficiency and stability by introducing innovative networking technologies, such as automated network configuration and fault recovery, and provided seamless service by interworking 5G and LTE.

This kind of innovation in 5G enables the ultra-fast and ultra-low latency network required for 5G immersive services, including virtual reality and autonomous driving. For its efforts in 5G innovation, KT was awarded “Best 5G Core Network Technology” at the TechXLR8 Awards at London Tech Week in June. The telecom company also snagged the “Blockchain Innovator of the Year” and “Best IoT Deployment” awards.

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