Telecom carriers rush to launch call recording features for iPhones

A customer tries out an iPhone 15 on display at an Apple store in Seoul. (Newsis)

South Korean mobile carriers are rushing to launch call-recording services for iPhone users, possibly taking a cue from the market leader SK Telecom’s success with its A. service.

According to industry sources on Monday, LG Uplus, the country's smallest telecom company by market share, is planning to launch a call-recording service, dubbed, “ixi O,” in the second half of the year. The service would become the second of its kind after SK Telecom’s A. service, which debuted in September last year.

Ixi O will utilize the company’s proprietary AI technology, a small language model, Ixi-Gen, trained on communication data and based on LG Group’s think tank LG AI Research Institute’s large language model, Exaone, the company said.

Another telecom carrier KT Corp. is also considering launching an AI call recording service. The company, however, did not elaborate on specific plans for the release yet.

The AI call recording function is attracting mobile carriers' and users’ attention because of its lack of availability on the iPhone. Unlike Android smartphones such as Samsung Electronics' flagship Galaxy phones, iPhones with iOS have not offered this feature.

“In a saturated market dominated by the three players, SK Telecom could have attracted more iPhones with the new unprecedented feature. Its smaller rivals are also keen to elevate their membership,” an industry source said.

SK Telecom’s A. is an AI assistant that records phone calls and summarizes the content. The service, exclusively offered for SK Telecom subscribers, initially targeted iPhone users but now the feature is available for Galaxy phones and other Android devices. About 4.6 million people use the A. service as of June.

According to the Science and ICT Ministry, KT and LG Uplus were found to have seen a decline in subscribers between September last year and May this year. SK Telecom is believed to have attracted customers from the two telecom carriers during the same period.

Meanwhile, Apple, the iPhone maker, is reportedly working on a call-recording feature through an iOS update. Still, the impact seems to be limited as the feature can function only when the other party on the phone consents to a recording.

By Jie Ye-eun(yeeun@heraldcorp.com)