Eluon aims to supply telecommunication kits better, cheaper than Huawei’s, CEO says

Telecommunication equipment maker Eluon’s goal ahead was to supply quality telecommunication equipment that is cheaper but better than those made by Huawei, Eluon president Lee Young-sun told TheElec.

Its equipment has already been verified by use of them by South Korean telcos, Lee said in an interview with TheElec on Tuesday. Eluon recently supplied its 5G small cell to KT.

Eluon was founded in 1998 by CEO Yi Seung-ku and Lee and has KT and LG Uplus as their main customers.

Its main product is its core network. As of the first quarter of this year, it spent 19.8% of its revenue on research and development. It has 85 employees.

Though large conglomerates such as Samsung are not aggressive in telecommunication equipment, there needs to be a Korean player like Eluon to mitigate the rise in the cost of building a network, Lee said.

While the core network market is not worth billions, the sector requires customer customization and is a good sector for small and mid-sized enterprises to enter, the president said.

Huawei is the world’s largest 5G telecommunication equipment vendor but Eluon believes that its products can match them, Lee said.

At the same time, the geopolitical situation was favorable and Eluon is aiming to expand into Japan and Indonesia.

For Eluon, expanding to foreign markets is a must as the domestic market and overseas markets were similar in that the company was fierce from telecom giants Nokia, Ericsson and Huawei offering low price orders for customers to kill smaller competitors, the president also noted.

In terms of 5G in South Korea, demand for repeaters and small cells is expected to grow to cover blind spots in 5G coverage, Lee said. Eluon’s small cell gateway offers a total management solution for telcos to handle these small cells, he added.

Private 5G networks are expected to replace companies’ Wi-Fi networks and Eluon’s small cell solutions can also be offered in this sector, Lee also said.