S.Korea's top 3 telecom companies boost pet-related services

South Korea's top three telecommunication companies are expanding their pet-related services to attract as customers the estimated 15 million owners of companion animals in the country.

Industry sources on Wednesday said SK Telecom Co. is developing an artificial intelligence-based image diagnosis service for cats slated for launch this year. X Caliber, the company's X-ray analysis platform for dogs launched in the second half of last year, will be expanded for use on cats to raise demand for companion animal diagnosis. About 150 veterinary clinics were using the platform as of last month.

SK Telecom is also wooing pet caregivers. Last month, nine companion animal-related companies like MeongNyangBogam, Coreadog and Ban-Life were made affiliates of SK Telecom's discount and savings group T Membership to offer services covering the lifecycle of such animals such as feeding, healthcare and funerals.

The company also set up a companion animal category in its subscription service T Universe and added About Pet and Fit Pet as affiliates.

The satellite TV service provider KT Skylife, a subsidiary of KT Corp., opened early this month Happy Dog TV, whose content is geared to soothe anxious dogs. In May last year, KT also launched a 5G mobile communication rate plan exclusively for pet caregivers featuring pet smartwatches and automatic feeders.

LG Uplus Corp. is working on a platform for rearing dogs. The company announced on Wednesday that the number of subscribers to Podong, its comprehensive platform for canines launched in July last year, exceeded 200,000.

Podong offers professional counseling and training for dogs, a pet caregiver community and tests of dog behavior types spanning 16 categories like the Myers-Briggs type indicator questionnaire for humans.

Write to Ju-Hyun Lee at 2juhyun@hankyung.com