KT's educational materials business loses in final bidding stage... Use of Chinese products may be the cause = South Korea

South Korean telecommunications giant KT was selected as the preferred negotiating partner for the 2024 Student Smart Device Supply Project promoted by the South Jeolla Provincial Office of Education, but was ultimately unsuccessful.
This is a rare case of the operator being changed at the last minute. According to the Korean media Herald Business, the Ministry of Education recently solicited three proposals from the KT Consortium, which is the preferred negotiating party.
However, KT was unable to provide proper proof, and the ministry decided to select LG U+ as the final operator.
The project, which the Ministry of Education is promoting from 2022 with a total investment of 150 billion won (approximately 151 million yen), involves providing tablet PCs to students in the area.
The project will cost about 35.2 billion won this year. The contract for 2022 was awarded to KT Consortium, while the contract for last year was awarded to LG U+ Consortium.
This year, the KT Consortium won the position of preferred bidder, but the result was overturned at the last minute.
KT offered 28.9 billion won and LG U+ offered 31.9 billion won. KT offered a lower price by about 3 billion won, but was ultimately defeated. The reason for its defeat was the conditions presented by the education office.
In a request for proposal, the education office cited "resolution issues," "problems with linking smart devices with the Mobile Device Management System (MDM)," and "problems with the tablet PCs of KT."
Specifically, the tablet PC's maximum resolution did not meet the standard, making it difficult to link with the MDM operated by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Information Society Agency.
The company also failed to provide proof of its spare parts operation plan, which was brought up for reasons of quality and security. As a result, the fates of KT and LG U+ were decided by the question of whether to use domestic or Chinese products.
Concerns have been raised since KT was selected as the preferred negotiating partner. There has never been a precedent for Chinese-made tablet PCs being supplied to a student smart device supply business, and there have been concerns about performance and after-sales service.
A Procurement Service official said, "We have heard that there was a discrepancy between KT's conditions based on the Jeonnam Office of Education's request for proposal and its actual performance. We are considering extending the additional negotiation period.
"The project took about a month to complete, but the relevant parts were not properly proven, and the Jeollanam-do Office of Education was not convinced," he said.
The education office also said, "It is true that KT was unable to meet the requirements of the request for proposal.
The negotiations have broken down."