SEOUL, South Korea-SK Telecom, Korea’s largest mobile carrier, said Thursday it has signed an agreement with China Unicom to establish a wireless Internet joint venture in China, marking what it calls “a major step” into the Chinese wireless market.
SK Telecom will take a 49-percent stake in the joint venture, while China Unicom, a major mobile carrier of China, will acquire the remaining 51 percent. Financial and other details will be finalized as early as end-January, SK Telecom said.
The company said the joint venture will set up its own Internet portal and seek to offer wireless Internet services to China Unicom subscribers with its own brand. The joint venture will be allowed to control the management of its own subscribers and content sourcing, it said.
The announcement by SK Telecom came after it exported its wireless Internet platform to Taiwan and the Philippines last year as part of a bid to expand its presence in overseas mobile markets on the strength of its dominance in Korea’s CDMA cellular phone service industry.
SK Telecom earlier agreed to provide 1 million units of cdma2000 1x handset to China Unicom. The company has maintained cooperative ties with China Unicom since June 1999.
