By Cho Mu-hyun
Telecommunications companies are forging stronger alliances with content service providers to be more creative in their bid to survive in a quickly changing market atmosphere.
The fight between the three domestic companies, SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus, has moved on from providing faster networks and connectivity to adding features and colors of their own. The company with the most robust, differentiated business portfolio wins as all three are now near equal in network technologies.
Now apps, advertisements and content make all the difference.
KT is planning to collaborate with software giant Microsoft to find new talent to create apps. The company announced Monday that it will collaborate with the American company’s Seoul office to support app developers or individuals making apps using HTML5 (the fifth revision of HyperText Markup Language that supports the latest multimedia).
The two firms signed a similar agreement in November. KT will have access to the rich talent pools and partnerships with content providers via the alliance, while Microsoft gets to promote its Windows operating system for mobile devices.
“The added talent and alliance with content makers, along with Microsoft, can vastly improve our talent pool,” said a KT representative.
KT, once the market leader before the spread of long-term evolution (LTE) networks and smartphones, is sparing little money in an aggressive bid to regain its throne.
LG Uplus, the former bottom-seed that is now quickly establishing itself as the No. 2 player, has formed ties with Google, another large foreign content powerhouse.
It signed a memorandum of understanding with the California-based firm to boost its advertising platform.
Businesses can now post their commercials on LG’s U+ AD and Google’s AdMob platforms using a software development kit developed by the two firms for maximum exposure. The higher exposure will also boost the revenue of the two firms, LG Uplus said in a statement.
“We hope that both companies strengthen competitiveness and create a synergy in the quickly evolving advertising platform market,” said Lee Kab-soo, head of LG Uplus’ media business unit. “We will continue to cooperate in the future in the advertising businesses in various areas.”
SK Telecom, as the largest company of the three with the most funds, is strengthening ties with group affiliates to break new ground in apps and advertisements.
Content provider SK Planet managed by the telecom is collaborating with California-based Tapjoy, which specializes in the monetization of app features (such as game items) and its own advertising platform.
Tapjoy will tap into the domestic market via SK Planet’s business infrastructure, while the Korean company will gain access to a vast amount of content and apps from Tapjoy’s long list of overseas partners.
“A lot of the apps, content and advertising services provided by businesses associated with Tapjoy will be available from our app store, which we believe will be far more competitive and vast than our rivals,” said an SK Planet spokesman.
SK Telecom’s subsidiary also runs an application support center that helps app makers in Korea financially, and their products then become available at the company’s app store.