[Exclusive] KT Requests Support from World Bank for "COVID-19 Communication Quarantine Utilization"

Communication Quarantine as a Global Infectious Disease Spread Prevention Platform
Importance of Infectious Disease ICT Quarantine Highlighted by COVID-19 Spread

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues to spread rapidly, KT has sought support from the World Bank (WB) for its telecommunications quarantine system, the 'Global Epidemic Prevention Platform' (GEPP).

According to industry sources on the 19th, KT recently requested cooperation from the World Bank, stating the need for the World Bank's support in introducing the global GEPP system. The purpose is to explain the feasibility of introducing the GEPP system in underdeveloped countries and to secure funding to expand the telecommunications quarantine system primarily in these countries.

If KT receives loans or funding from the World Bank, it will be able to increase the utilization of GEPP in the three countries where it is currently implemented?Kenya, Laos, and Ghana?and expand to more target countries. A KT official explained, "The GEPP system is not a project that requires enormous funds. Until now, we have used social contribution funds, but we believe it is necessary to continuously promote it with the help of international organizations going forward, so we requested support from the World Bank."

Inside and outside the World Bank, there is a consensus supporting KT's justification for GEPP assistance. Previously, the World Bank established an emergency epidemic support fund in 2014, learning from the 'Ebola virus outbreak.' KT plans to raise awareness of the need for the global expansion of GEPP at the 'Korea Innovation Week' event held at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC, USA, until the 20th.

Meanwhile, GEPP is a platform developed by KT in 2016 to prevent the spread of infectious diseases following the MERS outbreak in 2015. It is a system that blocks the spread of infectious diseases before and after by utilizing mobile carrier roaming information and base station-based movement data. KT proposed this to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and since 2017, SK Telecom and LG Uplus have also joined to use it for tracking the movement routes of visitors from COVID-19 risk countries.

For global cooperation, KT proposed the introduction of GEPP at the 2017 G20 Business Summit (B20) and has since requested cooperation and support from member countries through the World Health Organization (WHO), International Telecommunication Union (ITU), and World Economic Forum (WEF, Davos Forum).