KT, Korea’s second-largest mobile carrier, said Monday that it has launched a pilot service of Voice over Long Term Evolution for the first time in the world.

Some 300 workers and college students will be given the chance to test KT’s high-definition VoLTE in Korea.

The concept of HD VoLTE is similar to Voice over Internet Protocol telephone service, which uses Internet broadband lines to transmit voice data, whereas VoLTE transmit data via LTE networks, an industry source said.

Also, VoLTE allows much more voice data with cleaner audio to be transmitted, compared to third-generation telecommunication networks, the source explained.

KT will maintain the pilot service until the end of this September, and receive feedback from users of the HD VoLTE to make additional improvements, while further marketing it via social networking platforms and its homepage.

The company said it plans to officially launch the HD VoLTE service the following month.

This move comes after the company unveiled to the media last week that KT will introduce new services including data rollover and seamless connections between 3G, 4G and WiFi to boost its LTE business and secure about 4 million LTE users by the end of this year.

The company, which has 1.4 million LTE subscribers, expects LTE smartphone users to exceed 3Gs next year.

Meanwhile, KT plans to adopt a new management system enabling it to make faster purchases of telecommunication equipment made by its suppliers.

It will eliminate processes such as equipment testing as part of efforts to save time and money in receiving necessary supplies for commercial services.

The company used to perform “benchmarking tests” on such supplied equipment to analyze their function and operation, but it will simplify this step and only evaluate documents detailing the equipment.

By Park Hyong-ki (hkp@heraldcorp.com)