KT Corp. already has investments in Mongolian and Uzbekistani operators; has built networks in Rwanda and Congo; and is in talks to buy a 20 per cent stake in South Africa’s Telkom estimated to be worth about $600m. But competition is stiff.

Other telecom groups including Britain’s Vodafone and Spain’s Telefónica have turned to overseas markets to supplement slowing domestic market growth, but KT lacks the market capitalisation and balance sheet firepower of its larger rivals. Many of the most promising targets in emerging markets such as India, Brazil and eastern Europe have also already found global partners.
 
So Mr Lee is changing tack, banking on the growing popularity of Korean pop culture to drive demand for its online content and selling IT services, building on domestic knowhow.

It has acquired a slew of software ventures at home and set up multinational applications stores in collaboration with Japan’s NTT DoCoMo and China Mobile. South Korea is the world’s most wired country, where 96 per cent of households have access to high-speed internet services.

[Via] FT