-line, wireless communications and broadband service areas. KT's 2021 sales in the three areas, although tallied at a whopping 9.34 trillion won (US$7.2 billion) combined, grew merely 1.7 percent on-year.
KT has announced a three-year plan to invest 500 billion won to produce over 30 new original drama series and 300 entertainment shows through 2025. KT Studio Genie plans to release 22 more original drama series by next year.
"Starting this year, KT Studio Genie will showcase well-made dramas and expand both its distribution channels and production spectrum through partnerships with businesses from both home and abroad," Kim Cheol-yeon, CEO of KT Studio Genie, said in a press conference in April.
KT is not alone when it comes to the introduction of content-oriented business models in the telecom industry.
SK Telecom Co., the country's No. 1 wireless carrier, holds a major stake in local video streaming service operator Content Wavve Corp., which it established with the country's three major broadcasters -- KBS, MBC and SBS -- in 2019.
Wavve has promised to invest 1 trillion won in content by 2025 to strengthen its portfolio amid growing competition from local and foreign rivals.
SK Telecom also recently opened a visual effects studio, named TEAM (an acronym for Tech-driven Entertainment for Asian Movement), in Pangyo, south of Seoul, to strengthen its content production capabilities and expand partnerships with global media companies.
Comparable to StageCraft, an on-set virtual visual effects system designed by Industrial Light & Magic of the United States, SK Telecom's studio, spanning 3,050 square meters, provides production environments across two different LED wall stages.
LG Uplus Corp., South Korea's third-largest wireless carrier, has also made recent commitments to strengthen its content-related businesses, with an emphasis on children's content.
The company recently made an undisclosed amount of investment in SAMG Entertainment, a local kids animation studio responsible for the popular children's series "Catch! Teenieping." The two companies plan to cooperate in developing new content and even explore the possibility of building a children's theme park.
Source: Yonhap News Agency