South Korean telco has already signed deals with 25 firms in the smart home sector
South Korean operator SK Telecom has unveiled a cooperation agreement with compatriot companies Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics to interconnect its smart home platform with respective smart home platforms of Samsung and LG.
Once the agreement is fully completed, SK Telecom’s smart home users will be able to control and monitor Samsung and LG’s electronic products equipped with their own smart home capabilities via SK Telecom’s smart home app.
Under the terms of the cooperation deal, SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics have agreed to realize interworking between their respective smart home platforms within this year. As a result, consumer electronic products – including refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, air purifiers, robot vacuum cleaners and ovens – equipped with Samsung Electronics’ smart home capability can be controlled via SK Telecom’s app.
The South Korean telecom operator also entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with LG Electronics to cooperate in the smart home field. The two companies will work together to realize seamless interworking between their respective smart home platforms within this year.
SK Telecom launched its smart home platform in May. Since then, the company has been working with various partners to promote the growth and development of the smart home/home “Internet of Things” market by creating an open ecosystem. To date, SK Telecom has signed partnerships with more than 25 companies of diverse industries, including consumer electronics, furniture and construction, and plans to introduce at least 20 smart home-capable products within 2015 and more than 30 smart home products next year.
SK Telecom is South Korea’s largest telecom operator with more than 28 million subscribers in the mobile telephony segment. At the end of June, the telco had over 17.9 million LTE and LTE-Advanced subscribers.
SK Telecom is seeking new growth engines through its Lifestyle Enhancement Platform, Advanced Media Platform and IoT Service Platform.
Huawei plans to launch its video aggregation service in Europe this year
Chinese telecom equipment manufacturer Huawei plans to launch its video aggregation service in European markets before the end of the year. The service offers the latest regional and international video content and applications from all over the world.
Huawei has already launched the service in the Middle East and China, where the telco-partnered over-the-top service is already being streamed by 8 million TV subscribers.
The video service will reach end users via either Huawei’s distribution channel or those of the telcos partnering with Huawei. A Smart Video Cloud Europe center has been set up in the U.K. dedicated to the building of a European digital video ecosystem with the cooperation of telcos and Huawei’s local and global partners.
