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| A mobile phone user logs into Uber's app with an Uber Taxi in the background. Courtesy of Uber |
By Kim Bo-eun
A joint venture between SK Telecom's mobility subsidiary and Uber has come under the spotlight after the name of the entity was unveiled as "UT" as it nears its launch on April 1.
The new corporate body completed its registration last week. This comes after the antitrust watchdog approved the launch of the joint entity on Feb. 10.
Uber's taxi service here will be transferred to UT, as will the same service of T Map Mobility, SK Telecom's new mobility unit.
According to filings, UT's business will cover mobile-based ride-hailing services for taxis and chauffeur services. The new firm is also expected to make advances into the drone taxi business, given its stated plans to provide urban air mobility vehicles and a platform for related services.
The filings also show T Map Mobility CEO Lee Jong-ho as the only board member of UT. Lee formerly headed SK Telecom's mobility business before it was spun off as a separate subsidiary in December.
Uber, which invested $100 million into the new entity, owns a 51 percent stake in UT. Uber also separately invested $50 million into T Map Mobility.
Attention is growing over whether the new joint venture will pose a challenge to the local market for cab-hailing services, which Kakao Mobility has dominated so far.
Kakao Mobility has an 80 percent to 90 percent market share in cab-hailing services. T Map Mobility has an advantage in the mobile-based automotive navigation system, with a 55 percent market share which compares with Kakao's 20 percent. T Map is SK Telecom's map service which offers an automotive navigation system with its map data.
SK Telecom stated in regulatory filings Friday it will invest an additional 73.3 billion won into T Map Mobility. This brings SK Telecom's total investments into T Map Mobility to 228.7 billion won.
T Map Mobility is seeking to develop a platform offering car sharing, cab- and chauffeur-hailing and parking information and payment services. The unit is also set to offer in-car information and entertainment services developed by SK Telecom, including artificial intelligence-based voice recognition, music streaming and mobile payment services.
SK Telecom's plan is to bring up T Map Mobility's annual sales to 600 billion won and the company's worth to 4.5 trillion won by 2025.
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