Beating Competition
- With strategies to find out new revenue sources, while attempting to maximize income from existing market

Looking back, the competition among telecom companies were extremely hard last year surrounding MNP(mobile number portability) and LNP(local number portability), not finding new income sources, only battling it out for a bigger piece of pie in the existing market.
Hard competition is again expected this year, too, with only difference being the telecom firms will try to find new revenue sources to increase their incomes, Executive Vice President Kim Woo-shik said.
Under such scenario, KT would try to discover new income sources, while maximizing its profit from the existing businesses.
First, the communication business, a core business for KT is expected to face difficulty due to a number of reasons, including the expansion of mobile phones to replace wire communication phones, tough competition in LNP market, new operators in inter-city and intra-city call business and others. But the company plans to overcome it by diversified marketing promotion activities.
The company would try to expand the distribution of Ann terminals in an effort to have user homes to switch to wire traffic from wireless traffic. The company eyes to expand its profit by marketing such products as those that will give customers the options to select slowdown the reduction of wire traffic by providing diversified network intelligent services as SMS, CID and Ringo.
Second, the company will focus on segregated services by strengthening quality and speed amid the rapidly changing environment triggered by Dacom's market expansion, linked with Powercom, Hanano Telecom's attempt to take over Thrunet, a key move for high-speed Internet business, which is a core base for the convergence age in the future.
Under the same plan, the company plans to face up to competition by supplying Ntopia network, which is part of the local area network(LAN) in the apartment districts and supply VDSL 50 Mbps to residential areas boost revenues by expanding high-priced premium service and activating value-added diversified applications. In cooperation with construction firms, the company will penetrate the home-networking market. The company will also lower service charges for its existing service products including VOD and develop control service for gas and electric lights an commercialize them as part of its plan to vitalize its home-networking service.
Third, KT will strengthen its wireless business, one of its weakest points, in the face of the emergence of the age of the merger of wire and wireless communication. The company will straighten up its KT-PCS business and strengthen its wireless business base by expanding high value-added voice and data services. KT also plans to upgrade its one-phone service, taking advantage of its cheap prices and other advantages, targeting at favored customers. Nespot business would continue to be expanded by building its strategic zones and providing segregated contents so that the customer base would be increased, the executive vice president said.
KT looks at this year as the proper time to launch new business or prepare for them and expand the services of mobile Internet, satellite DMB and airwave DMB, with policy decision on IP-TV a key issue. Through this, the merger of wire and wireless communication trend will be rapidly formed, creating new market and diversified merger services.
KT will take on mobile Internet business as its key future business and provide a company-wide effort. The company plans to commercialize it in the first half of next year and chip away at the new market before any one to be a market leader. This year will be an important period for the new business as the company would have to make investment in facilities and be ready with other things.
The company projects to invest 1 trillion won for its mobile Internet business with Seoul and its vicinity to be the major market in its early stage and expand services to 84 cities in the country later.
KT has been providing all kinds of service ranging from telephone to business solutions and taking advantage of its position as a top operator of broadband in the world, the company will try to cut up a large share of the ubiquitous market to revamp its stature as a top communication operator, the KT official said.
First, he said, the company will try to expand broadband service and dominate convergence market with Megapass as the center. KT is in the process of FTTH base subscription network expansion and improve speed and quality of its service through the introduction of new technologies. The company's moves have been based on its effort to develop diversified added service and integrate contents and related solutions to create a new trend, thus opening up a new broadband era.
Executive Vice President Kim said KT plans to encourage the merger of wire and wireless through NESPOT, a wireless broadband product so that it may be able to lead the integrated market of communication and broadcasting.
Second, the company plans to expand its wireless sector though the mobile Internet business, he said. KT proved its superiority in terms of technology and marketing by being selected a top mobile Internet operator. The company will exert its effort to have the result to be recognized at market places through a rational marketing promotion program and charges backed up by best service. Mobile Internet products will provide custom-made contents and solutions so that customers would be able to use phone, Internet and VOD broadcast from a terminal making KT, an integrated wire and wireless operator.
Third, KT will lead the era of ubiquitous by building BcN making homes communication hubs. Through BcN, the company will build a home station environment, enabling continuous exchange of information tied up with a set-top-box individual mobile terminal at home. For the project, KT has been providing a special training to its marketing personnel and build the best distribution channel to supply best products to its customers and in the process make the company a top competitor in the business.
With the communication market reaching a mature stage via growth stage, competition has grown more intense. Brand name has become a key factor for customers selecting communication products of their own choice.
KT has been pursuing ads to strengthen its corporate image, along with ads such as those for Megapass and 001 to expand their brand power.
First, it has been after systematic control of brands with the introduction of Brand Manager system under a long-term perspective. The life cycle of a brand is based on PLC steps, but some brands continues to go on with their own life cycles.
So based on this point, there is a need to adjust brand communication strategies to suit each different marketing situations under a long-term brand road map.
Second, the company plans to grow a long-term brand as it has so many brands as if it were a department store. The company will be selective about nurturing brands because not any brand can be tops in its business sector. The company will be selective about choosing them.
The executive vice president said the company is considering a number of ways to go about pushing the project one of which is to set up an integrated brand system. The company feels the system would be the easiest way to make services known, setting up a base to nurture power brands.
Third, ads for corporate image and those for products should go together in contents. KT has been spending a lot of money on ads for its image and products, but it feels that it has not been doing well in making its messages known to its consumers fully.
KT's vision is named, "The Value of Networking Company." The company already announced, "Future Strategy 2010" which calls for making 27 trillion won in sales by 2010, becoming one of the top 10 communication companies in the world. KT will make 17 trillion won and 10 trillion won from its affiliates and subsidiaries. The company has set aside 18 trillion won for investment until 2010, 3 trillion won annually. nw