http://www.asiamedia.ucla.edu/article.asp?parentid=49984

KOREA: KT plans to build 60 ubiquitous cities by 2015

U-Cities to feature high-speed networks and high technology

Korea Times
Friday, July 28, 2006

By Kim Tae-gyu

Cellular phones with which people can turn off gas ovens from outside  
their houses; bridges equipped with sensors that check their status  
around the clock; pressure-sensitive floors for patients that can  
detect a fall and contact help.

These digital ways of life are not a distant dream but an imminent  
reality in Korea thanks to a U-City project, spearheaded by KT, the  
country's dominant fixed-line telecom operator.

KT is now building five U-Cities, futuristic places characterized by  
pervasive computing and ubiquitous communications, and looks to  
increase the number more than 10-fold in a decade.

Short for ubiquitous cities, many lifeless objects in U-Cities will  
have intelligence with incorporated chips or sensors. Plus, data  
provided by them will travel and be shared through lightning-fast  
networks.

Residents, who some call Digital Homo Sapiens, will be able to enjoy  
access to the high-speed networks that carry all the information from  
people or objects at any time and at any place.

"We aim to increase the number of U-Cities to 12 by 2010 and to more  
than 60 by 2015," KT vice president Yun Hae-jong, who is in charge of  
the carrier's U-City business, Friday told The Korea Times.

"U-Cities are kind of a mega-trend in tandem with the ongoing digital  
revolution. They will accommodate digital literates or Digital Homo  
Sapiens," he projected.

The five places where KT's U-City project is underway are Pusan,  
Songdo in Inchon, Dongtan in Hwasong, Unjong in Paju and Hungdok in  
Yongin.

The first-stage construction of ubiquitous computing at the above- 
mentioned places is expected to be completed soon, thus enabling a  
flurry of applications.

To accelerate the drive for the lucrative U-City project, KT plans to  
apply the concept of ubiquitous connection and intelligent objects to  
most newly-constructed residential complexes.

"Revolutionizing traffic, healthcare, education and other lifestyles,  
the U-City project will create huge benefits for both people and  
related industries in Korea," Yun said.

"Of course, it will enhance our bottom line,'' Yun beamed adding, "In  
recognition of its exponential potential, we began investment on U- 
City project in 2004, earlier than our competitors."

KT officially forecast the U-City development scheme will generate  
somewhere between $15 billion and $22 billion in 2010.

The former state monopoly that was fully privatized in 2002 picks  
radio tags and smart cards as immediate killer applications of the U- 
City.

In particular, Yun projected that the radio frequency identification  
(RFID) will feature widespread use in the envisioned paradise of  
ubiquitous connectivity.

The RFID tag is a small integrated-circuit chip with a radio circuit  
and an identification code embedded into it that can be scanned from  
a distance.

The tiny tag is expected to replace the current barcodes down the  
road at such places as retail chains. Over the long haul, the cutting- 
edge technology can be employed in the fields of livestock trading,  
highway toll collection and premium product manufacturing.

The RFID tags allow distributors to trace their products on a real- 
time basis irrespective of their locations, thus improving supply- 
chain management significantly.

Date Posted: 7/28/2006


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