KAIST Alumni take 3 competitive major positions in LTE War

Three telecommunications providers are going fight for the fourth-generation mobile telecommunication service LTE (Long-Term Evolution), and eye-catching "LTE Brains’ are following: Jong-bong Lee, chief of SK Telecom"s network strategy headquarter; Hyeon-mo Gu, chief of KT’s private clients headquarter; Jun-Hyeok Gwon, chief of LG U-plus’s NW(Network) plan headquarter.

All three have something in common: they graduated from KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology). Both chief Gu and chief Gwon completed the doctoral course in Management Engineering at KAIST in 1998. Chief Lee also completed Advanced Information Technology & Media Program at KAIST in 2007.

Jong-bong Lee, chief of SK Telecom"s network strategy headquarter, is an expert who has been specializing in networking for 20 years. The fruit of his research on LTE is Advanced-SCAN. Its core value is to provide faster and more reliable LTE service by minimizing interference.

He strives for not only technical development but also service area expansion. Chief Lee said, “We started LTE service in 28 cities on 2nd, Jan, 2012, which is advanced from the first half of this year.” “Our service in the whole country will start in April, conducted in a year ahead of schedule,” he said.

Hyeon-mo Gu, chief of KT’s private clients headquarter, is famous for working out the KT’s strategy for LTE in a month. At that time, KT was a latecomer in LTE because of controversy over 2G termination. In early December, during Executive Director Meeting, chief Gu emphasized that a follower should immediately create a task force for catch-up; he announced the list of task force for LTE. Thanks to chief Gu, just one month after that, KT’s LTE service could be launched.

Noticing that LTE subscribers are sensitive to the price, he executed aggressive marketing strategies. "Free calls between KT customers" and ‘Data Safety Fares’ are all his works. He disclosed his plan: “Through KT’s differentiated marketing, we are focused on highlighting the unique strength of KT.” Since he joined KT in 1987, he has consistently devised strategic planning.

Jun-Hyeok Gwon, chief of LG U-plus’s NW(Network) plan headquarter, has been preparing the LTE period from three years ago. After chief Gwon was responsible for the LTE network, LG U-plus became the first who had built their 4G nationwide network in Korea in July last year. At the end of December last year, it expanded its LTE coverage to 84 cities for the first time in Korea. LG U-plus would offer its LTE service in County and town in the whole country in this March.

After receiving his Ph.D. from KAIST in 1998, he has ridden on the fast-track of success in LG U-plus; he became the chief of LG U-plus’s NW(Network) plan headquarter only 10 years after he had joined LG U-plus. Chief Gwon said “we have been prepared for introduction of LTE and network deployments. We continue taking advantage of our first-mover advantage through aggressive marketing.”

http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?idxno=2012011213330330159