South Korea’s southern resort island of Jeju will become saturated with mobile wireless internet, which will likely boost the island’s tourism industry, telecom titan KT Corp. said Tuesday.
KT installed mobile Wi-Fi (wireless-fidelity) services along major roads and at tourist attractions on Jeju island, Pyo Hyun-myung, president of KT’s mobile business group, told reporters.
Coverage will reach 95 percent of the region’s tourist attractions by the end of next month, he said.
It also plans to expand the number of Wi-Fi hotspots on the 1,848-square-meter island from 900 to 1,500 by the end of this year.
KT established a type of mobile Wi-Fi service called Wireless Broadband (WiBro) in 82 Korean cities earlier this year to meet explosive wireless data demand from data-gobbling smartphone users.
The company, also the second-largest mobile carrier in South Korea, has sold more than 2 million iPhones nationwide since November 2009.
Located in the southern sea, Jeju Island is one of South Korea’s most popular vacation destinations. The volcanic island, which lured 7.5 million tourists last year with South Korea’s highest peak, Mount Halla, and a series of coastal trekking paths called “olle,” expects to attract 10 million tourists, according to local government officials.