KT, South Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, said Tuesday that it will launch an ultrahigh-definition Internet Protocol TV service next month, enabling consumers to enjoy not only sharper-quality media content but faster broadcasting connectivity.

The service, called Olleh GiGA UHD TV, will come with a set-top box that can connect to any kind of TV, including ones with cathode-ray tubes, and allows consumers to watch UHD content with resolution four times higher than high definition and 24 times higher than standard definition.

The appliance, connected to KT’s superfast Internet network, will also have a system that lets consumers search for programs via voice commands, and watch four different channels simultaneously.

Consumers can also check for statistics on players and other baseball data while watching a game on TV, and watch content in multiple languages.

“GiGA” was derived from gigabyte. But KT CEO Hwang Chang-gyu, known for his prediction that memory capacity will double every year, explained that in Chinese characters “Gi” refers to energy and “GA” means households, technology and advancing forward.

KT decided to introduce the ultrafast GiGA mobile and Internet service in line with its forecast of a media boom in an era in which all objects will be connected to the Internet.

As a step toward the age of the Internet of Things, KT said it hoped that its UHD GiGA TV service will add value to the industry by helping create an ecosystem in UHD content production.

“We have officially begun (assisting) to create a UHD ecosystem with the IPTV service,” said a KT official.

“We will do our best to ensure consumers get the opportunity to enjoy quality UHD content and producers increase high value-added content.”

KT said the service will offer some 500 UHD programs ranging from documentaries and music to animations and movies by the end of this year.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)