[BizLeader] Lee Kyung-ho GCT Chairman: "AI Core is Communication... Collaborating with US Verizon Beyond Qualcomm"

Differentiated by Coverage Performance Nearly Twice That of Qualcomm Chips
Targeting the U.S. Ultra-High-Speed Wireless Internet Market Growing 50% Annually

Lee Kyung-ho, Chairman of the Board at GCT Semiconductor.

"The most fundamental technology of the 4th Industrial Revolution, including artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and autonomous driving, is 'communication.' GCT Semiconductor plans to target the rapidly growing U.S. fixed wireless access (FWA) market, which is expanding by 50% annually, in partnership with Verizon, the number one operator in the U.S.," said Lee Kyung-ho, Chairman of the Board of GCT Semiconductor.

In an interview with , Lee explained GCT Semiconductor's vision in the growing future industrial environment driven by AI and other technologies.

Lee Kyung-ho, who holds a Ph.D. in Electronic Engineering from Seoul National University, was a key founding researcher of Silicon Image, a Korean-American company. This company was established by Lee’s academic advisor, Professor Jung Deok-gyun of Seoul National University, and created the global standard for High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI). Lee later founded GCT Semiconductor in 1998.

GCT Semiconductor is a fabless semiconductor company specializing in ultra-high-speed wireless internet communication semiconductors for 5G, 4.75G, and 4.5G. It is a Korean-American company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE). GCT’s main products include 4G LTE and 5G NR modems and radio frequency (RF) chipsets embedded in FWA (fixed wireless access) customer premises equipment (CPE), portable wireless routers, and Internet of Things (M2M) devices.

Lee stated, "The core elements of GCT technology are GCT’s proprietary communication semiconductors, the 'CMOS RF chip' and the 'multi-antenna OFDMA modem chip,' developed with unique know-how and about 100 key patents. Notably, by using twice as many antennas as Qualcomm, the world’s leading communication semiconductor company, GCT achieves nearly double the coverage performance, attracting significant attention from leading global wireless operators."

From the perspective of communication operators, using GCT chips instead of Qualcomm chips can reduce the number of base stations required. In large land areas like the U.S., achieving the same effect with half the number of base stations can lead to substantial cost savings.

GCT views the U.S. as its primary market. The U.S. is strengthening infrastructure investments in line with the explosive growth of the AI industry, especially focusing on building communication networks to support AI. Unlike South Korea, it is difficult to connect all regions with optical fiber in the U.S., making wireless internet infrastructure essential. However, the current household penetration rate of ultra-high-speed wireless internet is only 10%, with an expected explosive growth rate of 50% annually. In fact, the U.S. government has announced a plan to invest approximately 2,500 trillion won in ultra-high-speed internet infrastructure.

GCT has completed preparations to penetrate the market by signing a 5G communication semiconductor development cooperation contract with Verizon, the number one wireless operator in the U.S. and the world’s largest telecommunications company by revenue, and completing related product development. Verizon announced plans this year to supply home wireless modem services capable of serving nearly all U.S. households to expand ultra-high-speed wireless internet services.

Lee said, "Verizon recognized GCT’s potential and has been collaborating on product development since 2019. If we begin full-scale supply of 5G chips, which have a sales price 4 to 5 times higher than 4G chips, to Verizon by the end of this year, sales could reach $50 to $60 million (approximately 87 billion won)." This is 5 to 6 times the total sales of about 13 billion won GCT recorded last year. Especially since last year’s sales were more focused on Europe than the U.S., surpassing 100 billion won in sales is also expected.

In addition to the U.S., GCT is entering the global market through a cooperative relationship with Saudi Aramco to build a network ecosystem. Aramco has recently been focusing its capabilities on AI data center businesses alongside its oil operations. It is known to have made significant investments and established AI data centers since last year.

Lee explained, "AI data centers consume enormous amounts of power, so China is building at least 100 nuclear power plants to increase electricity production. In contrast, the U.S. finds it difficult to expand power infrastructure so rapidly, so data centers are also expanding to Saudi Arabia, which has good power infrastructure." He added, "GCT is cooperating with Aramco not only by providing communication semiconductor chipsets but also by distributing modules and various 5G terminals, so we expect to benefit from market expansion."