Bo-eun leads the digital content team. She has covered foreign affairs, North Korea, tech, economy and gender issues at The Korea Times. She did a short stint at the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, where she obtained a new perspective on news production and life. Small sources of joy for her are lounging in the sun, having a good latte and swimming.
Will SKT-Uber joint venture challenge Kakao?
This file photo shows Uber taxis parked at Banpo Hangang Park in southern Seoul. / Courtesy of Uber
By Kim Bo-eun
By Kim Bo-eun
A new player in the local mobility market is drawing attention to whether it will be able to challenge Kakao Mobility's dominance.
In December, SK Telecom launched its new mobility unit T Map Mobility, which is preparing to establish a joint venture with Uber in April.
The Fair Trade Commission approved the launch of the joint venture last week, stating it would promote competition and innovation in new business areas.
Uber is investing $100 million to own a 51 percent stake in the joint venture. The new entity will merge Uber's platform technology with T Map's capabilities. T Map is SK Telecom's version of Google Maps and offers an automotive navigation system based on its map data. The new entity will offer ride-hailing services with Uber vehicles.
Attention is growing over the new company's potential, given T Map holds a 55 percent market share in mobile navigation services with 13 million monthly active users. Kakao Mobility holds a 20 percent market share, but for cab-hailing services it takes up 80 percent to 90 percent of the market.
"We plan on offering differentiated services in the taxi sector via the joint entity with Uber," Ha Hyung-il, SK Telecom's vice president and head of Corporate Center 2, said in a conference call on the company's earnings that took place earlier this month. "We are also preparing for Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), which will enable access to various forms of transportation via one platform."
T Map Mobility launched as SK Telecom spun off its mobility business into a subsidiary. SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho said at a shareholders' meeting in November that the decision was made based on recognition of mobility as a key pillar of the company's new businesses.
T Map Mobility is set to develop a platform offering car sharing, cab hailing and chauffeur services as well as parking information and payment services. It plans on offering in-car information and entertainment services developed by SK Telecom, including artificial intelligence-based voice recognition, music streaming and mobile payment services.
In the long term, the company plans to establish a data system for flying cars, starting with creating 3D maps, and then to develop a transport control system for smart flying vehicles. Navigation services will be built on AI and 5G technologies. Uber also separately invested $50 million into T Map Mobility.
SK Telecom aims to bring up T Map Mobility's annual sales to 600 billion won by 2025 and boost the company's worth to 4.5 trillion won by then. T Map Mobility is set to go public as early as this year.
SK Telecom is increasingly developing new businesses to transform from a telecom company into a globally competitive ICT firm.