SK Telecom
Parent SK Inc. | | |
Subsidiaries | see this list | |
---|---|---|
Website | sktelecom |
SK Telecom Co., Ltd., abbreviated as SKT (
Since its creation in 1984, the company has evolved from a first generation
The company's online brands include Nate, a web portal, June, a mobile multimedia service, Moneta, an e-banking mobile app, Nate Drive, a telematics service, and Digital Home, an online interface to remote-control household appliances.[5]
In 2004, SK Telecom launched Hanbyul, the world's first DMB satellite. TU Media, SK Telecom's digital media arm, handles DMB TV broadcasts.[citation needed]
In November 2015, SK Telecom announced signing a deal to acquire CJ HelloVision, the country's largest cable and Internet operator, with the view to merge it with its own cable unit, SK Broadband.[6] The acquisition, which will make SK Broadband the second largest cable broadcaster following KT,[7] is opposed by competitors, who charge that the merger will help SK unfairly dominate the market.[8][9]
History
SK Telecom was established in March 1984 under the name Korea Mobile Telecommunications Services Corp. (KMTSC; Korean: 한국 이동 통신 서비스), but was renamed Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corp. (KMTC; Korean: 한국 이동 통신) in May 1988. It was a subsidiary of the state monopoly phone company, Korea Telecom (now known as KT Corp.) until KT sold it off in 1994.[10] In June 1994 SK Group (Formerly Sunkyong Group) became Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corporation's largest shareholder. KMTC officially joined the SK Group in January 1997 and changed its name to SK Telecom in March of that year.[citation needed]
In October 2000, SK Telecom became the second operator in the world after
In May 2005, SK Telecom divested 60 percent of
SK remains the second largest shareholder by holding on to the rest of Teletech's stock. In 2006, the well-known "SKY" brand of mobile devices became fully owned by Pantech as it finalized its takeover of SK Teletech.[citation needed]1984–1993: early years
Founded on March 29, 1984, as Korea Mobile Telecommunications Services Corp., the
In April 1993, the South Korean government, through KMTC, adopted CDMA as the national cellular telephone system.[12]
1994–1996: privatization and the CDMA standard
Through privatization, SK Group became Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corp.'s largest shareholder in June 1994.
In October 1994, Korea's first CDMA system was introduced to the public for the first time.[citation needed]
In January 1995, KMTC reached the one million subscriber mark. Korea Mobile Telecommunications became the third Korean firm to be listed on the
1997–2000: international expansion
SK Group completed its takeover of KMTC in January 1997, as it became the world's sixth carrier to attain ten million subscriptions. Around that time, it also began constructing the Northeast Asian CDMA belt encompassing China, Japan, Vietnam, and the rest of the Asian continent.[citation needed]
In March 1997, to reflect new changes, KMTC changed its name to SK Telecom, and in October, NetsGo, an online service, was launched.[citation needed]
In June 1998, SK Telink, the international call service division, started offering commercial overseas call service. In December 1998,
TTL, a wireless plan targeting younger users, and nTOP, a cellular internet service were launched in July and October 1999, respectively.
In December 1999, SK Telecom surpassed ten million subscriber mark, the following month, it launched the world's first commercial CDMA2000 service. By the end of the year the carrier won a contract for asynchronous IMT-2000 (WCDMA) facility.[13]
2001–2007: cellular internet and market accrual
The new millennium ushered in an era of cross-platform online networks that saw efforts to integrate mobile services, as SK Telecom was exploring new value-creating models such as m-Commerce and satellite DMB Service.
In January 2002, an acquisition of Shinsegi Telecomm Inc. was completed.
In February 2004, SK won a contract for a joint venture with China Unicom, called UNISK.[citation needed]
In March 2004, Hanbyul, the world's first DMB satellite, was launched.[citation needed]
2008–present: landline and new technologies
In November 2008, SK signed an agreement to buy a controlling stake of fixed-line phone company Hanaro Telecom for
In 2013 SK Telecom was the world's first operator to offer a commercial
On July 6, 2013, it was reported that Apple was in talks with SK Telecom to release the iPhone 5s model on SK's LTE Advanced network.[19]
On December 17, 2018 SK Telecom introduced the 'baro' roaming plan which offers unlimited use of international roaming voice calls.[20] As of June 2019, 'baro' has drawn 2.2 million customers and 38 million total calls (with a total of 800,000 hours of voice calls). It also won the 'Best Mobile Technology Breakthrough in Asia' award at the 2019 Asia Mobile Awards carried as section of MWC19 Shanghai.[21]
In June 2019, SK Telecom announced the launching of the world's first 5G roaming service partnering with Swisscom.[21]
In October 2020, SK Telecom formed a partnership with Uber Technologies, with a plan to break off mobility operation into a subsidiary called T Map Mobility.[22][23]
In November 2021, SK Telecom spun off of a new company focusing on investments, semiconductors and ICT, SK Square.[24]
Services
As of August 2020, SK Telecom operates
networks.Frequency | Frequency band |
Frequency width (MHz) |
Generation | Radio interface | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
800 MHz (824-829, 869-874) | 2x5 | 2G | CDMA |
||
850 MHz (829-839, 874-884) | 5 | 2x10 | 3.9G |
LTE | (main frequency) |
1800 MHz (1715–1725, 1730–1735, 1810–1830) | 3 | 35 | 3.9G |
LTE | |
2100 MHz (1930–1940, 2120–2130) | 1 | 2x10 | 3.9G/4G |
LTE/LTE-A | |
2100 MHz (1940–1960, 2130–2150) | 1 | 2x20 | 3.5G |
UMTS/HSPA | |
2300 MHz (2300–2327) | 27 | 3.9G |
Mobile WiMAX | ||
3500 MHz (3600–3700) | n78 | 100 | 5G | NR | |
28 GHz (28.1–28.9) | n258 | 800 | 5G | NR |
The 2G network supports CDMA (
From May 2005 to September 2012, SK Telecom provided
In 2022, SK Telecom announced a partnership with Joby Aviation with the goal to create a line of flying taxis for the South Korean market by 2025.[26]
SK Telecom also provides online multiplatform entertainment, business and financial services:
- LOEN Entertainment, an SK Group record label, became the company-in-charge of running MelOn. An Indonesian version of MelOn was created in cooperation with PT Telkom Indonesia. Both MelOn and LOEN Entertainment was later owned by Kakao.
- m-Finance: an online banking system introduced in 2001, allows users to take charge of all their financial transactions. Properly equipped mobile phones can do basic banking such as wire transfers and checking balances as well as stock trading and credit card services. Users can also withdraw cash from ATMs using their phones.
- Digital Home: Digital Home allows users to control and monitor home appliances, lighting, security systems and fire alarms remotely. The service utilizes high-speed internet, telephone and cable networks to achieve functionality.
- Mobile RFID (m-RFID): Phones with embedded RF readers can give users key information about a product before making a purchase. SK Telecom has tested this technology for six applications including, safety, authentication, package tracking, supply chain management, digital content usage and location-based services.
International markets
SK Telecom is currently putting its efforts in expanding into global markets, such as Vietnam, U.S., China and the Philippines. The company is also forging strategic alliances with other global carriers and IT businesses.
China
In 2000, SK Telecom first entered China, later forming a joint venture with China Unicom for wireless Internet service in February 2004. This joint venture between a foreign and local company, UNISK, is the first of its kind in China.[citation needed]
In 2006, SK Telecom bought $1 billion worth of convertible bonds of China Unicom Hong Kong, a division of China Unicom and agreed to cooperate in joint sourcing of handsets, development of additional services, platform development, marketing and distribution, customer relationship management, and network development. One result of this partnership is jointly developing handsets to be sourced by Samsung, LG, and Motorola.[citation needed]
In August 2006, SK Telecom signed an
United States
Helio
On January 26, 2005, SK Telecom announced that it had formed a $440 million joint venture with
The now-defunct venture operated on the premise of being a
On June 27, 2008, it was reported that Helio was being acquired in an all-stock deal by Virgin Mobile; for a net acquisition price of $39 million —–a far cry from the $500 million originally invested in the venture. All staff were eliminated and the business ceased as a going concern[29]
Mobile Money Ventures
On March 6, 2008, SK Telecom launched Mobile Money Ventures, a joint venture with Citibank.[30]
On March 28, 2011, SK Telecom made a surprise bid to acquire bankrupt movie/game rental company
SK Telecom Americas Innopartners
On March 4, 2014, SK Telecom announced that its U.S. arm, SK Telecom Americas, Inc. completed the establishment of the startup accelerator SK Telecom Americas Innopartners.[31] The accelerator invests in early stage core technology startups. It is set up to incubate 11 startups at the same time, and currently is hosting three of them (Etopus, N43, Pavilion Data).[32]
Vietnam
In September 2001, SK Telecom established S-Telecom, through a Business Cooperation Contract (BCC) with SPT (Saigon Postel), a Vietnamese phone company with a CDMA license.[citation needed]
S-Telecom, Vietnam's first CDMA
As of October 2006, the company was providing EV-DO wireless internet services in five major cities including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. S-Fone subscribers reached two million in April 2007, a little over three years after its start.[citation needed]
Philippines
SK Telecom announced on October 28, 2019, that they will deploy 5G services in the Philippines, in partnership with Now Telecom.[33]
Subsidiaries
SK Telecom has a number of subsidiaries that support its growth. In 2006, SK Communications expanded into new markets with an enhanced version of Korea's leading social networking site Cyworld. At home, NateOn is the leading messenger service with more than 13 million users as of 2006. SK Telink, the international telephony division, launched international Korean SMS messaging in the U.S., today it operates in more than 170 countries. TU Media, the nationwide satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB) service, is also making fast growth, attracting over one million subscribers in 2006.
NetsGo
With Thrunet and Hanaro controlling nearly half of the growing high-speed Internet market, SK Telecom entered the market in late 1999 with Dream NetsGo, a cable Internet provider that offered its services in a partnership with local cable TV operator Dreamcity Media. It provided Internet access at a speed of up to 10 Mbit/s using the cable TV network, which had 120,000 subscribers at the time.[34] In 2002 NetsGo merged with Lycos Korea to form SK Communications.
SK Broadband
Founded as Hanaro Telecom, Inc. in 1997 and was the only fixed-line and cable operator beside the state-owned KT. It provides local, domestic long-distance and international long-distance fixed-line telephone services to residential and commercial subscribers. After acquiring Thrunet, Korea's second-rated broadband company in 2005, Hanaro became a provider of broadband Internet access service and other Internet-related services, including video-on-demand and IPTV services.
Other Internet-related businesses include intelligent network, Internet leased lines, domestic leased line, VPN, Internet data center, and CDN services. Its new businesses include platform, business-to-business (B2B), healthcare.
The company's Internet Protocol (IP)-based central exchange system provides Centrex functions (internal calls, customer service numbers, etc.) and offers additional features, such as multiple bell tones, forwarding desk (receptionist function), conference call, call center and voice message functions. It also provides managed services and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consulting services.[35] Hanaro Telecom was acquired by SK Telecom in 2008 and became a wholly owned subsidiary in mid 2015.[36]
SK Communications
Founded in 1999 as
SK Communications is currently extending its online businesses into the global market. In 2006, localized versions of Cyworld were launched in China, Germany, Japan, Taiwan, the U.S., and Vietnam. To make full use of its premium base, the tech firm is building a portfolio of content providers, including education company Etoos; consumer shopping services under the Cymarket brand, which leverage Cyworld's network and traffic; gaming subsidiary SK i-media; and Egloos, the leading independent blogging service in Korea. In addition, the company acquired a significant stake (24.4%) in a powerful online search engine, Empas, for KRW 37.2 billion.[citation needed]
SK Planet
SK Planet is the e-commerce division of SK headquartered in Pangyo. Business areas include digital contents, integrated commerce and marketing communication.
Its October 2011 launch marked the reorganization of T Store.[38] SK Planet launched qiip}, an app store in Japan.[39] 11st is one of the biggest online store complexes in South Korea under the management of SK Planet.[40] Other products include Smart Wallet, a mobile wallet service, OK Cashbag, an integrated mileage service, and Gifticon, a mobile voucher service. As part of the integrated commerce strategy these services are being combined under the brand Syrup.[41]
On November 14, 2014, SK Planet formed a joint venture with Celcom Axiata Berhad of Malaysia.[42] The new e-commerce company is known as Celcom Planet Sdn. Bhd., its online outlet is called 11street Malaysia.[citation needed]
SK Telink
Founded in April 1998 as an international telephony service provider, SK Telink has grown into a major player in the international calling market. International call services are offered under the ‘00700’ brand. Building on the commercial long-distance telephony and value-added services launched in 2005, the carrier began offering Korean text messaging in June 2006 in the U.S. The service allows subscribers send and receive Korean text messages in the U.S., as well as to and from Korea.[citation needed]
TU Media
Established in December 2003, TU Media Corp. introduced a new digital media service —satellite Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB). Subscribers can now view satellite TV broadcasts on their portable handsets or via vehicle-mounted terminals. As of December 2006, subscribers to TU Media topped one million, up from 372,000 in 2005. Its nationwide DMB is available on 37 channels, consisting of 16 video, 20 audio and one data, and provides programs on education, games, drama, music, news and culture. In 2006, TU Media launched TUBOX, a pay-per-view movie channel that allows subscribers to see movies prior to DVD release. In addition to South Korea's 84 cities, TU Media provides service in express highways and Seoul metropolitan subways. DMB coverage was later expanded to include the Korea Train eXpress (
In 2010 TU Media was merged with another subsidiary, SK Telink, Korea's leading international call service provider. DMB broadcasts ended two years later as it became uncompetitive in the mobile TV market.[citation needed]
SK Square
Established in November 2021 through a spin-off, SK Square aim to work in the semiconductor industry as well as invest in media, security services and online shopping companies. As part of the re-organization, Dreamus and various other companies became subsidiaries.[43] SK Square is owned by SK Inc, at 30.01 percent, who are the largest shareholder. Dreamus Company, formerly known as iriver Inc. became a subsidiary with SQ Square being the largest shareholder at 51.4 percent.[44]
SK Sports
SK is a major sponsor in domestic professional sports.[45] It also owns an esports team as part of a cooperation with Comcast Spectacor.[46]
- Baseball: SK Telecom previously owned SK Wyverns before it was sold to Shinsegae, becoming SSG Landers.
- Basketball: Seoul SK Knights (Korean Basketball League)
- Fencing: SK has sponsored the Seoul Grand Prix of the Fencing World Cup circuit and the Korean Fencing Federation's national fencers since 2003.[47]
- Football: Jeju United FC (K League 1)
- Golf: SK sponsors the SK Telecom Open golf tournament and several golfers.
- Handball: SK is the main sponsor of the Handball Korea League and established the women's team SK Sugar Gliders.
- Speed skating: SK sponsors the national short track speed skating team.[48]
One of SK Telecom's major corporate rivals is KT Corporation. Match-ups between teams owned by both companies are dubbed the "Telecommunications Derby" by the media.[49][50] The rivalry is contested in esports and men's basketball. When SK owned a baseball team, the term was also applied to match-ups between SK Wyverns and KT Wiz.[51] Due to KT Wiz being a relatively new franchise and having a poor record for much of its early years, the "rivalry" was largely one-sided and given less attention compared to esports and basketball, where such match-ups are generally hotly contested affairs.[52][53]
See also
- Cyworld
- KT Corporation
- LG Uplus
- SK Group
- SK Telecom T1
- SK Teletech (Now merged with Pantech& Sky Electronics)
- TU Media
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- ^ a b "SK Telecom Launches the World's First 5G Roaming Service With Swisscom". Light Reading. Retrieved July 22, 2019.
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External links
- Official website
- SK Telecom T world website
- SK Telecom's channel on YouTube
- SK Telecom Americas website (English)
- Business data for SK Telecom: