At least 300,000 beacon devices, with which local area network is available, will be installed nationwide.
Not only to the communication and circulation market where beacon devices have propagated rapidly will they spread, but to all fields including general companies, universities, hospitals, finance, etc. Various new beacon-based services are expected to come out.
According to related industries on the 30th, 300,000 to 400,000 beacon devices will be installed nationwide this year. Taking into account the devices separated installed by individual businesses, actual statistics are estimated to be much higher. Last year, 100,000 devices were installed.
The beacon is a Bluetooth(BLE)-based local area network technology. Until now, services providing diverse information on products, locations, etc. when entering a shop or a baseball stadium have been provided. Recently, it has been utilized in universities for checking attendance, and even been developed as payment technology.
Telecommunication companies and the distribution industry are leading the growth. SK Telecom and KT are trying to brighten up the atmosphere, each installing beacons at Incheon Munhak Stadium and Suwon KT wiz Park. The most enthusiastic is SK Planet. This companies has installed 50,000 all over the nation already starting from last June. They will install an additional 100,000 this year. Major convenience stores and business districts are their targets. They are trying actively to introduce beacons, launching a separate brand named ‘Syrup.’ Their distribution rivals, Lotte and Shinsegye, have either introduced or are introducing the beacon to department stores, marts, and duty free shops.
Fields of introduction will also be expanded. The most enthusiastic among general companies is the Lotte Group. Lotte, the distribution giant, decided to introduce the beacon to its general affiliates as they benefited from the beacon effect through an existing distribution affiliate. The bid of a 20,000 to 30,000 scale is being progressed . Beacons are also utilized in commuting, attendance management, etc. Yonsei University has decided to check attendances via beacons starting from the second semester in September. Along with this, a direction service using the beacon will be provided.
The KINTEX Exhibition Hall, hospitals, shopping malls, private businesses, and more are showing movements of active beacon introduction.
The reason why the industry sees this year as the first year of beacon introduction is because it was judged from last year’s demonstration introduction that it has business value.
The spreading speed is quick to an extent where commercial services were activated in just one year after Apple had introduced the iBeacon in December, 2013. General companies are also hurrying their preparation for introduction in that the working distance is longer than that of the existing local area network technology, NFC, and that it supports both Android Operation System(OS) and iOS.
Kang, Gi-cheon, manager of SK Planet Merchant Interface development team, said, “The beacon service begins with locating the exact location of the customer. The more devices there are installed, the more exact will the beacon service become.”
As the beacon dissemination has been activated, diversification in related technologies and services are being foretold.
SK Planet will show Second Services, services upgraded from First Services such as store check-in’s, coupon issuing, etc. within the year. They are developing technology with which provision of specialized information according to varying store forms is possible.
The technology that the beacon industry pays attention to is payment. Due to problems concerning security technology, beacon payment technologies have never yet been commercialized at home nor abroad. However, all agree that one of the beacon’s final destinations is payment. BC Card, Woori Card, Lotte Card, etc. are developing technologies by introducing demonstration services, etc.
SK Planet manager Kang, Gi-cheon explained, “Online to Offline(O2O) means bringing daily activities that were done offline to the smartphone. Beacons can take our duty of paying in a line.”
◇Explanation of Terminology: BLE Beacon=Bluetooth Low Energy. A beacon that uses Bluetooth technology which has lower energy consumption, although the recognition distance and transmission speed is reduced. It uses a frequency of 2.4㎓, and is a local area network technology that is perceived within 50 meters. Since it can transmit diverse information by interlocking with smartphones, it is in the spotlight of marketing uses, and more.
Staff Reporter Kim, Yong-joo