KT vows to build global Internet hub in Busan

The network operation center will operate the Asia Pacific Gateway, a 11,000-kilometer-long submarine cable network that connects Asian countries.

By Yoon Sung-won

BUSAN ― KT pledged Tuesday to establish a Northeast Asian Internet hub in Busan as it became the main operator of world’s largest submarine cable network operation center (NOC).

The nation’s first and only submarine cable control center will control KT’s new submarine cable network dubbed “Asia Pacific Gateway (APG)” that connects nine Asian countries including Korea, China and Japan.

“With the 11,000-kilometer-long APG being operational today, KT’s submarine cable network operation center will handle about 30 percent of data traffic around the globe. This is one of the largest in the world,” KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu said in his celebrating speech during the opening ceremony of the KT International Operation Center in this port city, Tuesday.

“We could establish what will be the nation’s core network infrastructure based on our decades of experience and know-how that we have accumulated while running the nation’s largest fixed-line services. We will be able to meet the surging demand of data traffic in Asia and create numerous business opportunities for our partners.”

The company said 13 companies from nine different countries such as China Mobile, China Unicom, China Telecom, NTT Docomo, StarHub and Facebook have joined the APG project.

As the main operator of the NOC, KT will handle establishment, management and maintenance and troubleshooting of the APG international submarine cable network. The APG connects China, Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Korea and is capable of supporting up to 38.4 terabits-per-second (Tbps) transfer capacity. This means that the APG can transfer about five million high-definition (HD) broadcasting channels at the same time.

Adding to the company revealing that the APG project is worth 600 billion won ($569.25 million), a KT official who is familiar with the matter said, “It was a 45 billion won contract for the company and we expect about 11.5 billion won revenue to be created every year from running the NOC and managing the APG cables.”

In addition to the APG, KT plans to establish a new intercontinental submarine cable network called “New Cross Pacific (NCP)” that connects Asia and North America by late 2017.

The company said the NCP, which is designed to meet the 34-percent annual increase rate of data traffic in North America, extends 14,000 km and supports up to 80 Tbps transfer capacity.

This means more than 10 million HD broadcasting channels can be sent through this network.

“We aim to establish a Northeast Asian Internet hub in Busan where we can operate the NOC and four vessels to manage the submarine cables, safe from the threat of an earthquake,” said Oh Seong-mok, executive vice president of the network division at KT. “We were also the first in the world to be accredited by the International Standard Organization in managing submarine cables.”

With the geographic advantages, Oh added that the company anticipates more opportunities to come with possible cooperation with global IT companies such as Microsoft, Amazon and Google which are planning to build data centers in Korea.

Korea’s ICT Minister Choi Yang-hee, Busan Mayor Seo Byung-soo and executives from KT’s partner companies also joined in the Tuesday’s event.

“While working together to establish the submarine cable network with the world’s top extension and capacity, we have learned KT’s capability, excellent human resources and expertise,” said Yan Bo, executive at China Unicom. “As a representative of APG partner companies, we vow to continue to provide all the support for our new NCP project in the future.”