South Korean telecom firm KT Corp. and Kakao Corp.'s transportation unit said Monday they will collaborate to develop a new mobility platform to tap into the great potential of the rising technology segment.

Senior officials of South Korean telecom KT Corp. and Kakao Mobility, a transportation unit of popular chat app Kakao Talk, shake hands after signing a memorandum of understanding on the development of a new mobility service in Seoul on April 15, 2019, in this photo provided by KT. (Yonhap)

The telecom operator and Kakao Mobility signed a memorandum of understanding for a smart mobility project that would combine KT's connected car platform, called GiGA Drive, and Kakao T, the nation's No. 1 taxi hailing app, which has 22 million users.

Under the agreement, the two companies plan to create "Mobility as a Service" (MaaS), which connects cars, connected car platforms and business-to-customer services.

MaaS is an on-demand, real-time platform that can include any combination of transport methods, such as car- and bike-sharing, taxis and car rentals, and provides customers with everything from travel planning to payments.

For example, KT's connected car platform can integrate Kakao Mobility's service in the in-vehicle infotainment or navigation systems.

KT, which has tested its 5G technology on self-driving cars, said it will also push to work with Kakao Mobility to jointly develop autonomous driving technology. (Yonhap)

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