S.Korea’s mobile carriers seek future from service robots

South Korea’s mobile carriers are strengthening the service robot business as the sector, combined with their know-how in the telecommunication industry, is expected to offer high future growth opportunities.

SK Telecom Co., the country’s top mobile carrier, is working on robots for the food and beverage sector, while No. 2 player KT Corp. is developing delivery robots. Their smaller rival LG Uplus Corp., has already made inroads into the sector by introducing serving robots.

The global service robot market was forecast to more than triple to $103.3 billion by 2026 from $32.6 billion in 2021, according to the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Information.

LG Uplus said on Wednesday it has sent 180 staff members to Japan for them to experience the overseas service robot market as the company is seeking future growth engines from the industry. Those selected employees are studying the commercialization of the machines in Tokyo from May 30 to July 14.

They visited Pepper Parlor, a robot café operated by SoftBank Robotics Corp., a unit of SoftBank Group, in Shibuya, a major commercial and finance center in Tokyo. In the café, robots equipped with cameras and speakers recognize customers’ faces and voices to take orders, while recommending menu items for customers who hesitate to order. The robots handle not only serving food but also cleaning the café.

The LG staff was also scheduled to visit Haneda Innovation City where buses with Level 4 autonomous driving capabilities – fully automated under certain conditions – are allowed to run.

LOGISTICS, F&B

KT on June 7 signed a deal with the government of Gangnam-gu, one of Seoul's most upscale districts, to develop an outdoor robot delivery service that brings daily necessities to residents outside their apartment buildings through the use of robots. 

“We have already completed pilot operations of outdoor delivery robots at campsites and apartment complexes,” said a KT official. “It will be possible to release robots on the road this year after talks with local governments.”

The company already supplies serving robots and quarantine robots using artificial intelligence through business-to-customer deals while providing rental services for indoor delivery robots and care robots.

SK Telecom is focusing on robots for the food and beverage industry. It joined hands with Doosan Robotics Inc. to launch an AI-powered barista robot in January, which can prepare about 20 drinks including coffee.

The mobile carrier of South Korea’s second-largest conglomerate SK Group aims to top the local coffee robot market in five years through cooperation with major café operators.

The company also introduced an AI robot kit, which can be tailored to customer needs by installing various equipment such as fire and gas detectors on quadruped walking robots.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at deep@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.