To the request of IT education for children at islands, KT responds by providing the highest speed internet service
Test sites for various high tech device…
A farmer, with the help of tablet PC, does farm work and says “we don’t worry about the field even if we go ashore.”

In the afternoon of 7th,  at a farm at Imja-do, Shinan County, Jeollanam-do, sprinklers was sprayng waters inside the four-winged vinyl greenhouses of total 3300㎡ .  As soon as the shades at the side of the vinyl house raising red cabbage and broccoli are pulled up, wind has started to blow in from outside.  With no one else around, several dozens of sensors established in and outside the vinyl houses, 2 mega pixel CCTV, and a control system in the main room of the farm were the only things working, continuously sharing information.

Mr. Seung Cheol Na, 61, running vinyl houses, quotes “ In the past, it took about one hour for me to wind the shades and undo them alone. Now I sprinkle water automatically, wind and undo the shades, which helps me to go ashore well at ease and take a trip.”  Imja-do, a small island on the southern coast of Korea, has just turned into a high tech ‘Giga Island’ with the fastest internet network in Korea.  KT has recently completed changing existing internet network to the high tech Giga-level IT environment which is more than 10 times faster than general internet at the model farm, schools and community hall all over Imja-do.

Thanks to the above, children get English lessons remotely at the classroom from foreign teachers in Seoul, while farmers can easily afford to do vinyl house farming by smartphone control system as well as taking cultural lessons from Mokpo YWCA at the community hall.

These changes began from a single letter sent from Hui-Joo Kim, a fifth grade student at the Imja Nam Elementary School, to KT at the end of last year.  This letter which was sent to the IT supporters, KT’s employee service organization, contained a request to teach the kids on islands how to use ICT.  Four to five members of IT supporters at Gwangju & Jeonnam community has regularly visited them and taught how to use high tech product such as I-Pad, which it was difficult to reach for kids in countryside, not to mention providing an opportunity to learn foreign languages and overseas cultures by twinning with foreign international students in Seoul.

KT, by understanding that it’s not just children only who are in need of ICT at the island, which has one of the lowest internet usage in the country, with the size of Gangnam-Ku in Seoul, 1800 households and 3650 residents, has decided to establish internet network at the highest speed and proceed model business enhancing quality of the residents’ life, including signing
the MOU with the Shin-an Province.

The business has taken a swift current when Chang Kyu Hwang, chairman of KT, announced the plan ‘Giga-topia’ last May.  Giga-topia means ‘Human beings and all things are connected by high-speed internet and become happy’.  At Imja-do, 15 base stations for LTE(4th generation mobile communication), 14 repeaters and 12 high-speed wireless LAN facilities(Giga wifi) have been installed, which makes fixed mobile high-speed internet access possible everywhere in the island.  Mr. Gil-Ho Ko, the governor of Shin-an Province, said “our island, with small population and far away from the land, has turned into an advanced environment, easily connecting to the land” and “Life of the residents shall become quite convenient”.

Based on this environment, Imja-do has taken the role of ‘test-bed’ for various advanced devices which KT develops.  KT has newly introduced on this day an advanced medical device ‘Yodoc’, developed together with S-connect, a medium-sized enterprise.  Yodoc is a device, which can discriminate by urine examination more than 20 diseases such as diabetes and kidney diseases, with no need to visit hospital.  20 sets have been installed at Imja Health Center, and will come into the market sooner or later after approval of third-degree medical device by KFDA.

Mr. Young IK Choi, head of CR team at KT, says “Giga island is the starting point which contains KT’s future network strategy and philosophy as well.  KT shall come forward to settle digital divide through ICT and revitalize local community.”  KT is planning to expand ‘Giga internet’ business area nationwide, starting from Imja-do, to Cheong hak-dong of Hadong, Gyeong nam, and Daesung-dong village inside the Civilian Control Line.

 

[Source] Imja-do(Shin-an,  Jeonnam)=Reporter_Dong Hoon Shin Copyright ⓒ Chosun Ilbo & Chosun.com