KT announced on March 16th that it will be building a GiGA IoT-based traffic signal control system that can control and monitor traffic signals remotely.
The new system, the first of this kind in Korea, will be able to monitor the status of traffic signal controllers every second through KT's LTE network.
Installing 100 new conventional traffic lights required 2~3 months of excavation and cabling construction because traffic lights were connected, through a wired network, to traffic signal control centers.
However, the new system requires no construction. All it takes to remotely control traffic signals in real time is simple installation of a dedicated communication modem.
This not only can save installation and operation costs, but also can minimize the failure duration when traffic lights are not working, effectively preventing congestion in advance.
Also, it does not cause any damage to streets or sidewalks, nor discomfort to pedestrians because again it requires no excavation or cabling construction at all.
Also as a preventative measure against illegal hacking, KT already enhanced its security by integrating a security solution called Secure Sockets Layer Virtual Private Network (SSL VPN), capable of encrypting communication data, into the traffic signal control system.