KT Corp's Gwanghwamun Building West. [KT Corp]
KT Corp's Gwanghwamun Building West. [KT Corp]

KT Corp will take charge of information and communications technology infrastructure for the 2027 Chungcheong Universiade, providing wired and wireless communications and cloud services at competition venues and training facilities to support the successful staging of the games.

KT Corp signed an official ICT sponsorship agreement with the Chungcheong Universiade organizing committee Thursday at its Gwanghwamun Building West in Seoul. The signing ceremony was attended by Kim Bong-gyun, head of KT Corp's enterprise division, Lee Jeong-woo, secretary-general of the organizing committee, and Kim Woo-sung, chief executive of ITcen Cloit.

The Chungcheong Universiade is an international multi-sport event co-hosted by four cities and provinces in the Chungcheong region — Daejeon, Sejong, North Chungcheong Province and South Chungcheong Province. The games are scheduled to run from Aug. 1 to Aug. 12 next year, with approximately 15,000 athletes and officials from about 150 countries expected to participate.

Park Yun-young, newly appointed chief executive of KT Corp. [KT Corp]
Park Yun-young, newly appointed chief executive of KT Corp. [KT Corp]

KT Corp formed a consortium with ITcen Cloit last year and was selected as the contractor for the games' ICT infrastructure and integrated event management system. Under the agreement, the consortium will provide a full range of ICT services — building and operating the integrated event management system, delivering wired and wireless communications and cloud services, running an integrated control center, and providing technical support at venues.

Specifically, KT Corp will build stable communications infrastructure across approximately 50 sites, including competition venues, training facilities, opening and closing ceremony venues, and key operational facilities. The company plans to operate separate networks for games operations, administrative use, the internet and broadcast relay, and to duplicate transmission lines to ensure a reliable network environment throughout the event.

An integrated control center will enable real-time monitoring of competition operations and ICT service status, establishing a system capable of responding swiftly to outages or emergencies. The company will also provide an AI-based call center and multilingual consultation services.

"We are proud to join as the official ICT sponsor of the Chungcheong Universiade," said Kim Bong-gyun, head of KT Corp's enterprise division. "Drawing on KT's accumulated capabilities in networking, AI and cloud, we will provide a reliable environment for both athletes and spectators and fulfill our responsibilities to the very end for a successful games."

KT Corp has served as the host telecommunications provider for multiple Universiade events, beginning with the 1997 Muju-Jeonju Universiade, followed by the 2003 Daegu Summer Universiade and the 2015 Gwangju Summer Universiade. The company has also delivered ICT services at major international sporting events including the 2002 FIFA World Cup, the 2002 Busan Asian Games, the 2011 Daegu World Championships in Athletics and the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.


ko@heraldcorp.com