SK Telecom gears up for global launch of metaverse platform

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. took steps to launch its metaverse platform in other countries as it aims to seek a future growth engine in the global market.

SK Telecom has completed the development of an English version of ifland, its metaverse platform, recently, while seeking talent for the global service who will be set up plans for each country in consideration of their policy, regulations and characteristics, according to the information technology industry sources on Thursday.

“We will decide when to release the English version after quality checks and others,” said an SK Telecom official. “We are preparing specific plans for the global business including ones for Europe, North America and Southeast Asia.”

SK Telecom aims to launch ifland, which was unveiled in July last year at home, in 80 countries within this year. The number of its accumulated users was estimated at about 8.5 million as of June.

TO START FROM EUROPE

SK Telecom is expected to begin the global service from Europe, given its partnership with the region’s largest telecommunications provider Deutsche Telekom, which also has a significant presence in North America as the top shareholder of T-Mobile US Inc., the country’s No. 3 mobile carrier.

In May, top executives of SK Telecom and Deutsche discussed cooperation on the global metaverse business.

SK Telecom and Deutsche have been closely cooperating since a meeting of their CEOs at the Mobile World Congress in 2018. The two companies formed Techmaker, a 50-50 joint venture for the 5G mobile communication technology.

The South Korean carrier plans to utilize a global alliance of mobile service providers, which have data on user demand in each country. The data may help the company provide services for domestic users in each market, reflecting their own characteristics while maintaining the basic framework of global services.

In addition, it is easier to secure popular intellectual property and content in different countries since most mobile carriers operate their own internet protocol television (IPTV) and over-the-top (OTT) media services.

SK Telecom is expected to launch ifland in the overseas markets through a global integrated platform that provides specific services for each country. Many foreign telecommunications operators were known to have agreed with the method as they failed to expand their services into cross-border platforms due to regulations.

Write to Han-Gyeol Seon at always@hankyung.com
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.