KT to launch data-sharing plan for users of multiple devices

South Korean telecom titan KT Corp. said Tuesday it plans to introduce a new service and payment program to better cater to a growing number of subscribers who access different connectivity via multiple mobile devices.

“The average number of smart devices owned by one person is increasing and the need to share content between the different devices is also increasing,” KT president Pyo Hyun-myung said in a media conference.

“The new ‘All-IP (Internet Protocol)’ brand aims to service seamless connectivity that enables users to share high-definition data among different devices,” said Pyo.

KT president Pyo Hyun-myung (center), along with models, holds out a smartphone operated by Olleh ALL-IP, the firm’s new data-sharing service for multiple-device users, at a press conference held in KT Seoul headquarters, Tuesday. (Kim Myung-sub/The Korea Herald)

The new program comes as KT, the country’s top fixed-line and No. 2 mobile operator, is moving to clinch a bigger stake of the saturated local market by introducing various devices such as an educational robot and a home phone packed with smartphone features.

As part of the new program, KT said it plans to introduce a new monthly subscription that allows users to share data among the different devices they have, referring to similar programs that have already been adopted by U.S. firms AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Pyo said the program will help users sign up for a single data transaction service instead of subscribing to separate services for all the mobile devices they own.

The KT official, however, did not elaborate on the details of the program, which is subject to regulatory approval, or whether the new service will block mobile tethering.

As of end-September, the number of subscribers who used KT’s IP-backed services totaled roughly 61 million. The country’s total IP subscriber base is expected to reach 96 million by 2015. (Yonhap News)