Korea's KT plans mobile foray

KT, the Korean telecom services company, said it is looking to enter the Indian mobile and broadband services market and is open to partnership with companies.

The company has already entered into a memorandum of understanding with Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd for providing broadband services and is open to a dialogue with other Indian operators.

"India's telecom market has tremendous potential and we are here to explore how best we can be part of this growth. We are open to all opportunities and will like to negotiate with Indian operators when they approach us," Kim Hansuk, senior vice president, global business centre, KT said on the sidelines of the inaugural session of Convergence India 2004.

KT, currently offers mobile services, fixed line and broadband services in Korea. It also has mobile operations in Mongolia and parts of Russia. "Primarily, we are looking at opportunities in the broadband area but are open to the idea of foraying into the mobile market as well. However, there are no concrete road map or deals in place," Hansuk said.

Hansuk said KT is also looking at offering consulting services to Indian telecom companies. He however refused to divulge the details of the pact signed with BSNL.

KT has 5 million broadband subscribers in Korea. Hansuk said that the success of broadband in Korea can be attributed to the fact that there was a demand from consumers to try out new value-added services. He said Korean policy makers had taken a hands off approach and had left it to the market forces.