Telecom Carriers in Korea Preparing to Pull Ahead in Metaverse

The South Korean telecom sector is utterly fascinated with the metaverse sector as three of the leading companies have upped their metaverse bet amid the fading interest in it. Available data highlights there are nearly 400 Million users in the metaverse with gaming being the primary use case on different platforms.

All Three Are Engaged With The Metaverse Somewhere

According to Maeil Business Newspaper, South Korea’s daily business newspaper, SK Telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus will increase their investment in metaverse-related technologies to solidify their presence in the extended reality (XR) market. XR has increasingly been used as a catch-all phrase for augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), and mixed reality (MR).

South Korea has already launched a digital replica of its capital Seoul earlier in January 2023. It was developed with a focus on the betterment of public services and is likely to be completed by the year 2026. Last year, the nation earmarked funding worth $200 Million for related initiatives.

Other Asian economies like Thailand and Indonesia, where VR is not common yet, are working their way up in the AR market. The booming creator economy is supporting augmented reality in the nations. These technologies hold an eclectic mix of new possibilities in areas like business, employment, art, and more.

Major tech giants saw the potential and decided to enter this still-infant sector. Apple’s headset, Vision Pro, is rumored to come out in January or February 2024. Supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo reports that the company seeks to deliver 500K units following the launch. However, the iPhone maker’s upcoming device will have to do more with spatial computing than the metaverse.

Their rivals in this context, Meta Platforms, took a deeper dive into immersive technologies in 2021 when the company shifted its focus from social media to the metaverse. The company released its MR headset Quest 3 in October, claiming that it is the most powerful device in the entire Quest series.

SK Telecom is an exclusive distributor of Meta Quest devices in Korea. The company has a metaverse platform called Ifland which they plan to launch on Quest 3. Recently, its user base surpassed 50 Million. It further plans to extend its market in regions like the United States and Europe.

KT Corp is focusing on metaverse as well as artificial intelligence (AI). They too have a virtual world namely Genieverse, launched in March 2023. They are working on AI’s use to enhance non-playable characters (NPCs) in Genieverse. A similar initiative was put forth by GPU maker Nvidia in the form of Avatar Cloud Engine (ACE).

LG Uplus is planning a metaverse platform designed for elementary school children, KidsTopia. Moreover, the company also engaged in a university-focused metaverse initiative dubbed Uverse. The initiative is moving with a plan to develop virtual spaces for over 100 universities over the course of three years and has established spaces for 10 universities already.

Anurag is working as a fundamental writer for The Coin Republic since 2021. He likes to exercise his curious muscles and research deep into a topic. Though he covers various aspects of the crypto industry, he is quite passionate about the Web3, NFTs, Gaming, and Metaverse, and envisions them as the future of the (digital) economy. A reader & writer at heart, he calls himself an “average guitar player” and a fun footballer.