KT Corporation (KT), South Korea’s incumbent fixed-line carrier, has outplayed its South Korean peers in amassing subscribers for its IPTV (television over broadband Internet) services in 2009. KT Corp, which recently changed its ticker symbol on the NYSE from “KTC” to “KT”, operates its IPTV services under the “Qook” moniker. 

The carrier has reportedly lured 994,000 net new customers in 2009 for its real-time IPTV service with a total IPTV subscriber base reaching 1.01 million. South Korea’s largest wireless carrier SK Telecom (SKM) ranks second on overall subscriber count with a net addition of 403,000 customers for last year. LG Dacom Corp, a subsidiary of LG Telecom Ltd, registered 316,000 new subscribers.
 
KT Corp continues to experience greater-than-expected declines in its legacy wireline business due to intense competition in the highly matured domestic fixed-line market. To counter competition, KT is exploring new avenues of growth with broadband mobile Internet (“WiBRO”) and IPTV services representing key opportunities. 

KT Corp became one of the three South Korean operators to receive IPTV licenses from the country’s telecom regulator Korean Communications Commission (“KCC”) in September 2008. The company competes head-to-head with SK Telecom and LG Dacom in this market. In an effort to invigorate its IPTV business, KT introduced a full functional IPTV service in late 2008 which includes real-time broadcasting and video-on-demand services.
 
The Korean IPTV market is estimated to increase by approximately 100,000 customers per month, driven by deregulation. For a long period of time, the Korean regulators prevented the launch of value-added IPTV based services such as real-time broadcasting and interactive services including e-commerce, multimedia messaging, and video conferencing. To promote IPTV services, KCC is offering subsidies to the three incumbent operators.
 
KT Corp plans to invest KRW1.7 trillion (US$1.3 billion) through 2012 to expand its IPTV business with a target to retain approximately 3 million real-time IPTV subscribers. The company is collaborating with leading international broadcasters (including BBC Worldwide Channels) to expand media content for its IPTV platform.
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