The South Korean mobile carrier, KT (formerly Korea Telecom) has unveiled the world’s first blockchain-based commercial network, as reported by the Korean Herald. The telecom giant has implemented a blockchain layer on top of their ultra-speed nationwide commercial network to ensure maximum security and transparency for retail and business users.
“Public blockchains have low processing speed and capacity, while private blockchains have low transparency. By applying blockchain onto our ultra-fast network, we have overcome both obstacles,” commented the head of the Blockchain Center at KT’s Institute of Convergence Technology, Seo Yeong-il.
The mobile carrier expects to achieve the impressive number of 100 000 transactions per second by the end of 2019, while their current blockchain network capability is 2500 transactions per second. Furthermore, KT has already implemented this disruptive technology in their user identification process, eliminating the need for personal IDs and passwords. The company is also working closely with Japan’s mobile carrier NTT Docomo on their project for blockchain-powered roaming services, with the end goal of accelerating the speed of mobile internet connections and providing real-time billing.
With the help of companies such as KT, South Korea is successfully maintaining its leadership position regarding the number of blockchain use-cases. According to the Korean Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korean blockchain market is expected to expand from 50 billion won (44 million dollars) this year, to 1 trillion won in 2022.
