South Korean telecommunication businesses are making various efforts to increase their presence worldwide, moving beyond limited growth of the domestic market.

KT said Monday its subsidiary KT Submarine won a $9.79 million order from US-based SubCom to lay fiber optic communications cables under the Pacific Ocean last December. The company will break ground in April.

KT Submarine is the only submarine cable company in Korea, and it is also the only Asian firm participating in the latest project. Installation of the fiber optic cables will help boost intercontinental communications, the company said.

Of the 14,000 kilometers of cable construction, KT Submarine will build the 780-kilometer section from Songjeong in Busan to South China Sea areas in the period between April and September.

“Amid the tough conditions in the domestic telecommunication industry, KT is playing a central role in the global submarine cable business,” said Yoon Cha-hyun, CEO of the cable unit. “The latest deal would create synergy with other overseas projects by KT Group’s subsidiaries.”

KT CEO Hwang Chang-gyu has announced his goal of making KT the global No. 1 under a strategy dubbed “GiGAtopia.” Hwang, whose term has been recently renewed for another three years, has pledged to boost the company’s overseas sales from the current 750 billion won ($660 million) to 2 trillion won by 2020.

“The CEO’s strategy remains unchanged for the new term,” a KT spokesman said. “The telecom business has reached its growth limit in the domestic market, so we are seeking additional growth by exporting our technologies to other countries.”

Hwang, who is slated to deliver a keynote speech at the Mobile World Congress kicking off on Feb. 25 in Barcelona, is also expected to announce new partnerships with global telecom businesses.

The country’s No. 1 mobile carrier SK Telecom has recently clinched a partnership deal with CAT Telecom, a state-owned telecommunication service provider in Thailand, for deployment of an Internet of Things network and provision of technological consultation.

Under the contract, SKT and CAT will deploy its long-range Lo-Ra-based IoT networks in central areas of Bangkok and the entire Phuket Province, and provide Thai residents and visitors with IoT services starting from April, the company said Sunday.

In Phuket, the two telecom firms will launch the first LoRa-based vehicle location tracking service and roll out more IoT services including smart metering and smart street lighting services going forward. Phuket is the Thai government’s first target of its smart city project.

The companies will also roll out Low Power Wide Area Network (LoRaWAN) services in central areas of Bangkok, including the Grand Palace, and offer an IoT-based location tracking service for tourists. 

SKT has also joined hands with IBM to enhance its artificial intelligence platform NUGU with IBM Watson, which is rumored to hit the market around May.

SKT CEO Park Jung-ho has vowed to cooperate with top players of various industries to grow beyond the telecom industry. He has announce the company’s plan for collaboration with Nvidia on connected driving services.

“The CEO’s global strategy is focused on co-working with No. 1 players of other industries,” said an SKT public relations representative. “Besides the telecom business, SKT will seek cooperation from global companies on areas that we can’t do on our own.”

LG Uplus, the third player in the Korean market, is seeking partnership opportunities with foreign ICT businesses with a goal of making tangible results at the MWC.

Its CEO Kwon Young-soo is planning to take part in the world’s biggest communications industry exhibition, and make ties with global businesses.

“In the upcoming 5G era, the telecommunication industry will become borderless,” said an industrial source. “Korean telecom firms are progressively finding global partnerships in a bid to preoccupy the 5G service market not only domestically, but also globally.”

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)