Plans for autonomous shuttle bus pilot project and autonomous transportation conversion within the year

KT announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the commercialization of autonomous driving with Unmanned Solution at the KT Gwanghwamun building in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Under the cooperation for the commercialization of autonomous driving, KT will be responsible for establishing autonomous driving V2X communication infrastructure and control platforms, as well as analyzing big data on driving patterns, while Unmanned Solution will manufacture autonomous vehicles and drive the business based on its capabilities in autonomous driving hardware production and solution development.

Moving forward, KT plans to prioritize autonomous public transportation projects targeting the government, local municipalities, and B2B sectors. After launching a pilot project for autonomous shuttle buses within the year, the company plans to commercialize the autonomous driving of Personal Mobility (PM) devices and extend its services to an autonomous 'On-Demand Service' that allows users to summon a vehicle when needed.

Furthermore, based on domestic business experience, we are pursuing entry into the global autonomous driving market. Depending on the results of this initiative, we also plan to explore the development of additional autonomous driving business models that expand into the sectors of logistics, agricultural machinery, and drones.

Meanwhile, KT is currently establishing autonomous driving demonstration environments in Pangyo and Daegu, the first among domestic operators, and is also carrying out government projects related to autonomous driving. In addition, during the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, 5G autonomous buses were showcased to visitors in PyeongChang and Gangneung, and recently in Pangyo, an event for the general public to experience cooperative autonomous driving buses is being held using ultra-precise positioning technology based on 5G that reduces the margin of error to less than 30cm.

Moving forward, KT plans to develop a service that monitors autonomous vehicles in real time based on 5G communication technology to enable safer autonomous driving. In addition, through the development of In-vehicle Infotainment (IVI) services currently in full swing, it plans to introduce differentiated convergence services that can be provided to autonomous vehicles in the future.

Kim Jun-geun, Head of KT GiGA IoT Business Unit, stated, “We look forward to synergy between the two companies through the business agreement between KT and Unmanned Solution,” adding, “KT will lead the market by actively commercializing the autonomous driving sector, a key growth engine of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.”