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SKT, KT, LG Uplus to expand 5G alliance at MWC

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From left are SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho, KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu and LG Uplus CEO and Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hwoi
From left are SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho, KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu and LG Uplus CEO and Vice Chairman Ha Hyun-hwoi

By Baek Byung-yeul

Korea's telecom firms SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus will try to secure allies in fifth-generation (5G) business at the upcoming Mobile World Congress (MWC), company officials said Sunday.

They said it was important to take the technological lead in the super-fast network service that will be commercialized here starting March and to expand partnerships with firms in information and communications technology (ICT) business.

To achieve that goal, chiefs of the three telecom firms are scheduled to attend the world's largest mobile trade fair in Barcelona, Spain, from Feb. 25-28. More than 107,000 officials from the ICT industry are expected to attend.

Company officials said the chiefs were slated to have meetings with CEOs from global telecom firms, give keynote speeches regarding 5G network technologies and seek business opportunities by visiting promotional booths of participating firms.

SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho will attend a board meeting of the Global System for Mobile Communications Association (GSMA), which represents the interests of the world's mobile network operators.

The GSMA board is comprised of 26 members from network operators and Park is the sole board member among the executives of Korean telecoms.

SK Telecom said Park would discuss how Korea successfully launched its 5G network service on Dec. 1, 2018, and share the firm's business plan using the super-fast network service.

"At the meeting, Park will share the success story of the 5G smart office and 5G smart factory services, which are one of the business-to-business services, as well as the future business plan using 5G networks."

He also plans to encourage global telecom firms to expand partnerships for international voice calls.

In 2018, SK Telecom was recognized among users for launching various kinds of convenient roaming services such as a mobile service that enables users to use their domestic mobile data in Guam and Saipan or giving three minutes of free phone calls per day when overseas.

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-kyu will deliver a keynote speech ― his third following 2015 and 2017. Hwang will talk about KT's 5G technology and services on the opening day of the MWC.

To seek new business for the 5G service, Hwang will also visit the promotional booths of global firms such as Samsung Electronics, Nokia and Ericsson.

Ha Hyun-hwoi, CEO and vice chairman of LG Uplus, will also seek business partnerships using 5G service.

LG said he would meet executives from global mobile firms such as Verizon, T-Mobile and Vodafone as well as ICT firms such as LG Electronics, Samsung and Nokia.

Stating that the business boundary between telecommunications and broadcasting services has been blurred, Ha said he would "try to foster new growth engines in 5G with officials from various areas during the MWC."

LG Uplus said it would seek to partnerships with media service providers domestically and overseas to provide augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), artificial intelligence (AI) and internet of things (IoT) services in connection with 5G.


Baek Byung-yeul baekby@koreatimes.co.kr


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