SK Telecom is determined to transform itself into a platform business provider to make a new leap forward this year. The step means that SK Telecom is turning to securing new growth engines, a departure from the all-out competition it had engaged in to lure telecom service subscribers from the other Korean telecom service providers.
The nation’s top telecom service provider has been pursuing strategies to secure next-generation life value, media and IoT platforms since last year.
This year, SK Telecom is focusing on the development and release of products and services related to next-generation platforms. The company is stepping on the gas to develop diverse convergence products and services by forming partnerships with SMEs, venture companies and specialized firms.
The platform strategies are designed not only to fundamentally improve profitability, but also to offer convenient and efficient services to customers, SK Telecom officials said.
The “life value” strategy is to shift the conventional market paradigm based on basic fare and subsidies into one designed to meet customers’ needs.
To this end, SK Telecom is seeking to secure a foundation to have synergetic effects in such diverse areas as big data and location-based services.
The media platform strategy is designed to invest in culture and content industries to secure integrated media platforms.
The IoT platform strategy targets the development of innovative products in cooperation with diverse companies to maximize growth momentum. “Smart Home,” SK Telecom’s representative IoT platform product, is offering 20 connectivity services in cooperation with 33 companies with partnerships, including Samsung Electronics.
SK Telecom’s Jang Dong-hyun disclosed a plan to make inroads into the global market in cooperation with major ICT players during the 2016 Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona on Feb. 23. SK Telecom joined forces with Deutsche Telekom and Facebook at the fair.
SK Telecom Announces Nationwide Roll-out of LPWA Network for IoT
SK Telecom announced on March 17 its comprehensive strategy for the Internet of Things (IoT) to usher in a new era of consumer value/convenience supported by innovative IoT services. Its plans include building a nationwide Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWAN) within this year; developing IoT-dedicated modules; and upgrading its IoT platform ThingPlug. To implement its strategy, the company said that it will invest more than 100 billion won (US$84 million) over two years.
The company’s plans come in step with the Korean government’s aggressive move towards promoting new industries, including the IoT industry. In particular, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning decided to revise the maximum transmit power for the 900MHz frequency band i.e. from 10mW to 200mW - to nurture the IoT industry. Such a move is expected to help operators overcome limitations caused by the low transmit power and to secure the basis for many new IoT services.
With the nationwide deployment of the LPWA networks, SK Telecom will secure solid IoT infrastructure. LPWAN is a type of telecommunications network designed to support communication among IoT devices. As it can transmit data over tens of kilometers while consuming much less power, many companies across the world are actively developing the LPWA technologies and launching related services. LPWAN, once built, is expected to give birth to numerous types of new business models e.g. metering, location tracking (e.g. finding missing persons/pets, tracking logistics, etc.) and monitoring & control services - as it dramatically saves battery power and cost for connectivity.
In July 2015, SK Telecom joined the LoRa Alliance to discuss the standardization of the LPWA network as well as measures for the adoption and utilization of the network.
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