The country's No. 2 telecom firm, KT Corp., said Wednesday it was appraised as having the highest brand value in South Korea among competitors despite a smaller market share compared with its bigger rival SK Telecom Co.

   According to a report by British market researcher Brand Finance, KT ranked 33rd around the globe in the telecom sector, three notches higher than for SK Telecom.

   Currently, market leader SK Telecom controls roughly half of the South Korean market, followed by KT and smallest LG Uplus Corp., with all three vying neck-and-neck to take the lead in the LTE technology.

   Brand Finance said the value of KT is estimated at US$4.9 billion for 2014, above the $4.5 billion for SK Telecom despite the gap in market shares between the two. 

   The market researcher looks at companies' financial health and brand strength index in assessing market value of 500 brands around the globe every year.

   U.S.-based Verizon Wireless topped the telecom sector list with $53.4 billion, followed by AT&T at $45.5 billion and Hong Kong's China Mobile with $31.8 billion. Germany's T Mobile and Britain's Vodafone held comparable figures of $30.6 billion and $29.6 billion, respectively. (Yonhap)