Korea Telecom Launches World’s First Blockchain-Based Commercial Network

According to reports, South Korea’s most used mobile network provider Korea Telecom (KT), will soon set up what will be the first blockchain-based commercial network in the world. Kim Hyung-wook, the KT head of platform business, explained at a conference on Tuesday how the company aims to create and maintain the most trustworthy network for all kinds of consumers, individuals and businesses alike.

“Like the internet has become today’s mainstream network technology, blockchain will be a new fundamental technology network,” Kim said. “KT will contribute to enlarging the country’s blockchain market by taking the lead in building blockchain infrastructure.”

The company’s new blockchain-based telecommunications technology will enable them to create a more secure and efficient system for transactions and distribution of data. They have used blockchain nodes for their nationwide high-speed network, and expect many more such secure blocks to be added, creating a more monopolized and more trusted network. KT’s blockchain protocol would minimise the risks of data theft from their secure network.

Seo Young-il, head of the KT Blockchain Centre of KT’s Institute of Convergence Technology, has been hard at work developing this network for the company for over three years. He maintains that application of blockchain to networks would definitely make them more trusted and secure.

At present, the company is capable of maintaining transaction speeds of a good 2,500 transactions per second, estimating that the number might even go up to 100,000 by the end of 2019. Furthermore, they have taken news and innovative steps in their user identification procedures as well, and now users will no longer need IDs and passwords to enter the network.

“Instead of using the IP address, each block can serve as a unique ID that does not require additional identity verification, preventing risks of ID and password thefts,” Kim explained.

Alongside China, Korea continued to be a world leader in terms of practical usages of blockchain technologies. Estimates suggest that the blockchain market in Korea might be valued at $44 million by the end of the year.

Blockchain technologies would also be applied to data roaming services by mobile network providers, according to an announcement at the end of Tuesday’s conference. The company announced that they would begin several blockchain-based data roaming partnership with several global carrier services like the Japanese NTT Docomo. This move is anticipated to make mobile connections much faster, while also providing billing calculations in real time.