South Korean operator KT unveiled its budget for non-infrastructure investments over the next five years, earmarking KRW12 trillion ($9.5 billion) for AI, cloud computing and content programmes, as it moves to restructure operations away from its core telecoms business.

In a statement issued today (10 June), KT noted the overall group aims to increase its workforce by 20 per cent between 2022 and 2026. The operator will invest KRW2.6 trillion to strengthen its content offering, and allocate KRW1.5 trillion on AI and big data initiatives. Another KRW3 trillion will be invested in promising start-ups.

The spending is part of a combined KRW27 trillion five-year investment, also covering network and data centre upgrades. It will spend about KRW1.7 trillion on cloud and data centre infrastructure.

Outside its investment budget, the operator also will spend KRW6 trillion to secure high-quality content from third parties.

KT is the second-largest mobile player in South Korea with 14.1 million subscribers at end-March.