Platform for unified broadband convergence network(BcN) which allows wire/wireless communications, broadcasting and internet service with higher quality at anytime and anywhere has been developed in South Korea, only second time ever in the world.

KT(www.kt.co.kr) has successfully finished converting telephone networks in the suburbs of Jeju Island providence to BcN to establish service areas.

In relation to this, KT's president Jung-Soo Nam hosted its first ever BcN service grand opening celebratory event from KT's network service center in Daejun on the 14th. With over 150 guests from government, education and industrial fields, KT demonstrated its BcN based multimedia services with OSI(Open Systems Interconnection) and other various applications to the crowd.

KT's network switch system manager Hyung-Ok Park said "rural telephone switching system(AX-10) in Jeju providence was replace with BcN equipments to meet 100% of system hardware requirement portions but will not be servicing the area immediately. I believe marketing department is taking public polls nationwide to come up with fair service fees and policies."

Since the hardware platforms have completed for the BcN service, actual service programs are in need now. In conjunction with that, the administration already selected KT and other companies to pilot its second phase of BcN development projects this year.

Kt's successful conversion of existing phone system to its BcN system has capability to handle 2 million in voice only customers and half million multimedia customers. Samsung electronics and KT jointly developed the system's core equipment, 'soft switch' together.

The 'soft switch' functions, as a brain to the BcN and this is only second time ever it has been introduced in suburban areas after Italy started the service in 2004.

Managing director Park explicitly said "Italy too only completed converting the existing phone system to the BcN service platform but has not started actual services as of yet."

The BcN project in Jeju providence began from August to December last year, by April this year linking it to the existing switching networks and crossed over to suburb switching BcN networks in four different phases.

KT concluded that present scale of voice carrying phone network is too big and impractical for converting over to BcN all at once and plans to implement systematic conversions in different phases are being considered instead.

Park said, "The present $16 million project only converted single intercity switching system to BcN equipment and by end of June next year with $36 million will be spent to cover for 12 more cities and also switching system within the city will be converted appropriate in systematic phases too."

Besides this Jeju BcN conversion project, earlier, KT tested with 'video calls' in Seoul, Daejun, Daegu and Busan for about three months from October last year.

When the BcN service actually gets on the way latter part of this year, KT will start testing IPTV service and allow two way data broadcasts, making services like internet surfing, home shopping/orders, home banking and various other services all possible. Especially, consumers do not have to elect a particular service and will get a reduced service fee.