SK Telecom revs up digital economy on its metaverse platform

South Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom Co. is accelerating a digital economic system on its metaverse platform ifland, the telecom giant said on Sept. 5.

The metaverse platform launched some new services via updates on Monday.

It started operations of “ifland point”, a reward system for ifland meet-up hosts and participants; a beta version of ifland for PC; “ifland lounge” for first-time users of the metaverse platform; and “ifland studio” where users can create fashion for their avatars.    

The point system rewards users when they accomplish missions, such as access the platform at certain times and use various functions. The users can support the meet-up hosts with digital points, which can be converted to cash on a monthly basis.     

The mobile carrier is planning to link the points to cryptocurrency and strengthen its digital economy for the platform's profitability and sustainability.

SK Telecom also easily enables creating avatars' costumes by using one of 11 design templates, as well as sharing the designs on the ifland studio website. The metaverse platform will begin costume trading services by using ifland points in the near future.

The beta version for PC has improved split screen mode and keyboard shortcuts, making creation and management of meet-ups easier. SK Telecom will operate the beta version for ifland hosts and influencers for two months and then offer the full service to all users.  

The online lounge allows users who don't have a membership to experience the metaverse platform. It offers services such as livestreams of some popular meet-ups, daily horoscopes and avatars’ shows. The lounge also halved the time for signing in and entering the platform.

The update has significantly enhanced access to the metaverse service, said Yang Maeng-seok, SK Telecom’s metaverse business head. The mobile carrier will conduct additional updates later this year to make it an even more fun and interesting space for users, Yang added.

The mobile carrier is aiming to launch ifland in 80 countries by the end of this year. In May, it joined forces with its spin-off investment firm SK Square Co. and Europe's largest telecommunications firm Deutsche Telekom to launch ifland and other tech services in Europe.

SK Telecom also completed the development of the English version of the metaverse platform in late June, which is available on Google Play and the App Store.

Write to Jeong-Soo Hwang at hjs@hankyung.com
Jihyun Kim edited this article.