By Kim Yoo-chul
Korea's major telecommunications firms are still "head-to-head" in seeking a greater share in the saturated market.
As a strategy to shy away from the stalled growth and to seek for ``next revenue sources,’’ telecoms are leaning toward strengthened overseas partnerships amid the industry’s convergence moves.
It’s been quite natural for SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus to inject more of their needed resources for better tie-ups.
On Monday, the nation’s top telecom company SK Telecom said it has expanded its ``roaming unlimited data services’’ to 12 Asian countries from Japan and China ― the move is seen as a ``firm signal’’ to seek increased penetration according to market watchers.
Company spokeswoman Cindy Kang said its new telecom services are drawing more attention from customers in those countries and added it has further plans to introduce more.
SK has recently formed a united front with a top-tier China-based PC maker ― Lenovo ― to offer its mobile content for smartphones manufactured by the Chinese maker, which is a part of its goal to boost its presence in the lucrative content distribution market outside Korea.
The agreement calls for the companies to establish an online marketplace called ``T-Store’’ for Lenovo’s Google-powered smartphones, mainly providing games, music and cartoons to appeal to young Chinese customers, according to Kang.
``This is the first visible result after SK Telecom announced its plan for a global platform, though more work is still needed,’’ the spokeswoman added.
SK’s biggest local rival KT is still focusing on sharpening its wireless-related businesses in the local market rather than expanding its overseas operations.
But it has seen joint progress with the U.S.-based chip giant Intel to release more WiBro-enabled devices, and company officials say KT is mulling fostering overseas sales of its wireless-related content through enhanced partnerships.
Lee In-won, a senior KT spokesman, said its recent contract with China Mobile will pave the way for local exclusive partner Apple to export its mobile content.
By riding the trends, Korea’s smallest telecom ― LG Uplus ― inked a strategic partnership with Facebook, allowing LG customers to access the social networking service (SNS) and others via handsets.
The collaboration is the first time for the U.S.-based SNS company to advance into the world’s most-wired country.
LG officials say it has been in further business talks to strike similar deals, though a company spokesman declined to unveil details.
``It is expected local telecoms find more overseas partners amid the rising popularity of smartphones. Local telecoms have competitive edges in mobile billing systems and some content in music and games,’’ said a high-ranking KT executive, asking not to be identified.