Telecom giant KT expects lower household sales

SEOUL, April 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korean telecom giant KT Corp. expects revenue
from household subscribers to drop this year due to its shrinking customer base,
a company executive said Tuesday.
KT's sales of fixed-line phone and broadband Internet services to households will
likely hit 7.5 trillion won (US$5.7 billion) this year, down 5.1 percent from
last year, Ro Tae-seok, vice president for KT's home customer unit, told a press
conference.
KT controls more than 90 percent of South Korea's wired telephone market and
services nearly 45 percent of broadband Internet users.
"It is not an easy goal to achieve as the number of fixed-line subscribers
decreases by 5,000 people a day," Ro said. "Revenue from the fixed-line business
is likely to reach around 4 trillion won, down some 500 billion won from last
year."
KT's operating income is expected to account for 12 percent of this year's
revenue, Ro said. He did not give a net profit estimate.
Last year, KT's net profit plunged 54 percent on-year to 449.3 billion won with
sales falling 1.3 percent to 11.7 trillion won.
Ro said KT will make greater efforts to stem the fall in the number of its
fixed-line subscribers and increase its Internet customer base.
In late March, KT announced a merger with its mobile affiliate KTF Co., the
country's second-largest mobile carrier, in an effort to boost its
competitiveness in the saturated local telecom market. The merged entity is
scheduled to launch on June 1.
ygkim@yna.co.kr
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