By Lee Hana

KT, Korea's leading telecommunications firm, will be launching its high-speed GiGA Wire internet service in Boston, Mass., this year.

The company announced on June 12 that it had signed an MOU with the city of Boston to participate in the Boston Digital Equity Project, a policy that aims to create a better internet environment across the city center.

Under the agreement, KT will provide its GiGA Wire technology, a service that offers speeds of up to 1 gigabit per second (1 Gbps) using copper wire instead of optical cables.

NetBlazr, Boston's main internet firm, will be responsible for setting up the infrastructure and managing the operations, maintenance and client services.

"KT providing its GiGA Wire service in Boston is an indication that the U.S., one of the countries that opened the era of telecommunications, has acknowledged Korea's technological expertise in this wireless era," said Lee Dongmyun, head of the Institute of Convergence Tech at KT.

The network testbed, to be set up by this fall, will provide high-speed internet to 100 to 150 low-income homes in the Boston area.

hlee10@korea.kr