South Korea’s telecommunications giant KT announced Wednesday that it will enable Internet phone calls to be made via mobile handsets, a move local mobile carriers fear could cut into their revenues.

The company said its new plan enables using both traditional cellphone services and wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) connections for free Internet phone calls on a single mobile handset, as the company sees growing potential in wireless Internet.

“We see wireless Internet as a new growth engine for the future,” the company said in a statement.

Though such services are already available for owners of Wi-Fi equipped smartphones, telecom firms have been reluctant to promote Internet phone calls via mobile handsets as they feared it would cut into revenues.

The move could initially slash KT’s revenues as the company expects a 35 percent reduction in fees for cell phone calls and an 88 percent drop in data transaction fees.

The new service, however, will be limited to three designated smartphone models, the company said.

KT, South Korea’s top fixed-line and broadband Internet operator, absorbed its affiliate and No.2 mobile carrier KTF in March, marking the first merger of a telecom and broadband company.

South Korean telecommunications companies have usually bundled up broadband access, mobile and fixed line television services into one package in an attempt to secure more subscribers in saturated local markets.

YonhapNewsAgency

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