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LGU+, KT join forces with Kakao to go after SKT in mobility service

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Choi Soon-jong, left, who heads the corporate infrastructure business group at LG Uplus, poses for a photo with Ryu Gung-seon, co-CEO of Kakao Mobility, at the mobile carrier's head office in Seoul, Sunday, after signing an MOU to cooperate in developing smart mobility services. / Courtesy of LG Uplus
Choi Soon-jong, left, who heads the corporate infrastructure business group at LG Uplus, poses for a photo with Ryu Gung-seon, co-CEO of Kakao Mobility, at the mobile carrier's head office in Seoul, Sunday, after signing an MOU to cooperate in developing smart mobility services. / Courtesy of LG Uplus

By Jun Ji-hye

LG Uplus and KT have been rushing to join forces with Kakao as a means to catch up with their bigger rival SK Telecom in the mobility services market, company officials said Monday.

The two are relative newcomers in the domestic mobility services market that has been largely dominated by the nation's top mobile carrier SK Telecom and Kakao Mobility, a subsidiary of the nation's largest mobile messenger app operator Kakao.

Their move to join hands with Kakao Mobility is construed as a strategy to create new business opportunities through cooperation with one of the leading companies in the mobility services market, rather than releasing their own.

LG Uplus signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Kakao Mobility, Sunday, to establish an autonomous driving environment and develop fifth-generation (5G) network-based services in the traffic-related field.

Toward that end, the two companies plan to set up a joint task force this month at the earliest.

The two firms will also work to create distinguished services utilizing LG Uplus' 5G network and Kakao Mobility's Kakao T platform that offers various mobility-related services including taxi-hailing, navigation systems, parking and chauffeur services.

"Through cooperation with Kakao Mobility, a front-runner in the mobility industry, LG Uplus, which possesses distinguished 5G networks and technology, will speed up its efforts to prepare for the future market," said Choi Soon-jong who heads the corporate infrastructure business group at LG Uplus.

KT also signed a business agreement with Kakao Mobility in April to jointly push for the smart mobility businesses.

Under the agreement, KT is working to integrate its connected car platform dubbed GiGA Drive with Kakao T platform to create new services.

Among the three mobile carriers here, SK Telecom has been steps ahead of KT and LG Uplus in the mobile services market, engaging in cutthroat competition with Kakao Mobility.

SK Telecom's popular T map navigation system has so far maintained the lead in navigation services, while Kakao's KakaoNavi is following closely behind.

Kakao has held the lead in the taxi-hailing service, with SK Telecom aggressively moving to attract more users.

On June 19, SK Telecom released a mobile parking app, dubbed Tmap Parking, which enables drivers to find parking lots nearby and check parking space availability, challenging Kakao, which began its Kakao T Parking service in October 2017.

On the other hand, KT and LG Uplus have failed to secure their competitive power in the mobile services sector. They have jointly operated the navigation system, ONE NAVI, but it was ranked fourth in a user satisfaction survey conducted by the Korea Consumer Agency.


Jun Ji-hye jjh@koreatimes.co.kr


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