SK Telecom teams up with China Unicom
China Watch Posted: Feb. 21, 2000
BEIJING? As the barriers surrounding the mainland Chinese telecom market start to fall, a Korean cellular operator is set to enter the market by joining forces with a mainland Chinese company.
SK Telecom (SKT) has recently signed an agreement on comprehensive business cooperation with China Unicom, mainland China's second-largest telecom operator. The agreement calls on the two wireless operators to cooperate in the fields of technology and management, according to SKT.
"The agreement between the two companies comes at a time when the liberalization of the mainland Chinese telecom market is gaining speed, and more cooperation between Korea and mainland China can be expected in the information and technology sector," said an SKT official.
The deal allows SKT to tap the huge market potential of the mainland, which recently adopted code-division multiple access (CDMA) technology in addition to the global system for mobile communications (GSM) equipment already in use. The mainland's telecom market is expected to have over 150 million wireless subscribers by 2005.
"The agreement is the best possible deal at the moment as there are no other ways of entering the mainland's market," said a member of the Korean operator's China business team. He added that a more concrete partnership could evolve from the present agreement.
The two companies also agreed to cooperate in exploring foreign markets, particularly those in the Asia-Pacific region, and work together in the development of IMT-2000 technology, a third-generation mobile communication technology. The areas of cooperation include research and development, international roaming, CDMA network architecture and marketing, according to SKT. |
