[THE INVESTOR] Logistics solutions firm Asiana IDT has jumped into the smart personal mobility market, joining forces with Internet of Things platform company DSPOne and electric vehicle developer OTOSOne, according to the company on June 27.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding with the two companies for future collaboration in the segment.

(From left) OTOSOne CEO Lee Gyu-min, Asiana IDT senior executive Goh Seok-nam, and DSPOne CEO Hong Dong-ho pose at an MOU signing event on June 26 in Seoul.

The three partners will work to develop electric vehicles of two, three and four-wheeled variety, named EV-2, EV-3 and EV-4, respectively. All the models will be designed to fit regional characteristics of the nation and provide location-based services.

Asiana IDT, which has expertise in IT solutions for logistics, will be in charge of developing and operating a monitoring platform based on big data technology while DSPOne will manufacture electric cars and roll out IoT-based location detection solutions. OTOSOne will be responsible for developing and running EV battery stations and collaborating with telecom companies to build sales channels.

“While collaborating with the partners, the company will try to beef up its capacity in monitoring system, big data, and charging infrastructure, all of which are important in the EV segment, and to become a logistics solutions powerhouse in the era of the fourth industrial revolution,” Hahn Chang-soo, chief of Asiana IDT, said.

The three firms will deploy two-pronged business strategies for rural and urban areas. For example, the company will try to sell EVs that can be charged at home in rural regions that usually lack public charging stations while selling EVs that can be charged at privately-run stations and running a shared EV business in cities.

As part of the joint project, 500 units of the two-wheeler EV-2 will be provided to Jeju Island via agricultural firm Great Farmers, and more advanced EV models will run on the road later in metropolises like Seoul and Suwon, according to Asiana IDT.

Charging stations that will be installed across big cities, will embrace telecom technologies, NB-IoT, and LTE-M, to collect and analyze data of location and driving routes to offer better EV solutions.

By Kim Young-won (wone0102@heraldcorp.com)