KT will decide within the next two months whether to invest in an additional 60 megawatts (MW) for its data center (DC) operations.
Kim Bong-kyun, head of KT's Enterprise Division, stated during a conference call on Q3 earnings on November 10 that "KT's current DC capacity is 152MW" and that a decision on the additional 60MW will be made in the coming two months.
KT has identified 20 major candidates for data centers, totaling 911MW in capacity. Among these, 10 preliminary sites have a combined capacity of 500MW. The company plans to increase its data center capacity to 1 gigawatt (GW) by 2031, tailored to actual customer demand. Kim noted, "We plan to secure funding for the expansion through various means, considering our debt ratio."
In the B2B sector, the cumulative order volume for Q3 increased by 20% compared to the same period last year. Kim explained, "Orders have risen evenly in the telecommunications and artificial intelligence transformation (AX) sectors, and our customer base has expanded to six fields, including defense and manufacturing." KT anticipates that the orders secured this year will translate into revenue starting next year.
For its B2C telecommunications business in Q3, KT plans to focus on profitability for recovery. Park Hyun-jin, head of KT's Customer Division, explained, "The telecommunications market is saturated, and the impact of the penalty waiver-related decline in wireless subscribers from Q1 continued through Q3. However, we have seen a recovery in subscriber flow since August."
KT aims to enhance the quality of its wireless and internet services to secure profitability. Park pointed out, "As the device replacement cycle lengthens, the duration of customer service usage is increasing. Since the cost of acquiring subscribers has decreased, we plan to operate with a focus on profitability."
Meanwhile, KT reported consolidated revenues of 6.9975 trillion won and operating profit of 505.3 billion won for Q3, marking decreases of 1.8% and 6.1%, respectively, compared to the same period last year.
On a separate basis, revenues were 4.9878 trillion won, with an operating profit of 299.3 billion won, down 2.4% and 12.2%, respectively, from the previous year.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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