mobile technology

SK Telecom – A Subsidiary of SK Group Providing Wireless Telecommunication Services in South Korea.

Based in South Korea, SK Telecom operates under the SK Group which is one of the largest industrial conglomerates of the nation. The company is famous for being the largest wireless carrier of South Korea and had a local market share of 50.5 percent as of 2008. SK Telecom was established in 1984 as Korea Mobile Telecommunications and in 1997 it was rebranded as SK Telecom. The company has evolved with time from using the analog cellular system to IMT-cellular systems. From the wireless market, SK has also entered the landline market with the acquisition of Hanaro Telecom in 2008. Currently, the company has more than 40,000 employees and has expanded overseas especially to other Asian countries.

History of the SK Telecom

Established in early 1984, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corp was a subsidiary of Korea Telecom (now known as KT Corp). In 1993, KT Corp decided to sell the subsidiary and thus it came under the SK Group a year later when it decided to buy Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corp. The company, KMTC, officially became a part of the SK Group in 1997 and changed its name to SK Telecom. Under the new parent company, SK Telecom became the second company in the world to launch commercial 3G services using the W-CDMA technology. Eventually, SK Telecom’s services offered higher speed data transmission than the other existing 2G networks.

When the privatization of KMTC took place in 1994, SK Group became the largest shareholder of the company. And, after the privatization, KTMC reached it’s one million subscribers mark within a year. In 1996, it was listed in the NYSE and during that time it was the third Korean company to get listed there. After KMTC became fully a part of the SK Group and changed its name, the merger made it the world’s sixth company to cross the ten million subscriber mark. In 1997, SK Telecom launched NetsGo, a new online service. The company started entering the international market during this time through the construction of the Northeast Asian CDMA belt. The company also entered the Mongolian market in 1998 when it cofounded Skytel LLC with 30 percent ownership.

Market in the 21st Century

During the time period between 2001 to 2007, SK Telecom was involved in welcoming the cross-platform era integrated mobile services. The company started exploring new models to diversify the business through m-commerce or satellite DMB service. SK acquired Shinsegi Telecomm Inc in 2002 and deployed the IMT-2000 facility which was the world’s first. The company was also trying to strike deals with the international market leveraging CDMA and GSM networks. This helped the company enter into several markets including Israel, China, and Vietnam. In 2004, SK Telecom started a joint venture with China Unicom and named it UNISK and a few years later signed an agreement with the Chinese government for building their 3G wireless broadband equivalent.

New Technologies

With time the company evolved and adapted new technologies to survive and thrive in the telecommunications market. In 2008, the company acquired a controlling stake of Hanaro Telecom and it helped SK to expand in the landline market. SK started offering commercial LTE-Advanced Network and it became the world’s first operator to successfully do so. Apple also made some discussions with SK Telecom back in 2013 as the former decided to launch the iPhone 5s model on the company’s advanced LTE network. In 2019, the company also announced the launch of the world’s first 5G roaming service in partnership with Swisscom. Recently, the company has also partnered with Uber Technologies. Company not only introduced some advanced networking technologies for the first time in South Korea but also in the entire world.

Jung Ho Park – CEO of SK Telecom

Jung Ho Park is the current CEO of SK Telecom. He is currently looking out for long-time growth opportunities and building a strong corporate culture in the company. Previously, he served as the CEO of SK Hynix and after that served as the director of SK C&C Co. Jung Ho Park completed his education from George Washington University.

Annasha

Annasha Dey is an NIT student, who apart from studying engineering is also a content writer. She has a great interest in photography, writing, reading novels, and travelling as well. She is a foodie who loves socializing and hanging out with her friends. She is also a trained Kathak dancer and a big fashion enthusiast. Dey also loves watching TV series, which includes F.R.I.E.N.D.S. and Big Bang Theory. To be a better writer she prefers to read more

Amazon and Sony denied participation in Mobile World Congress 2020 due to Coronavirus Outbreak

Highlights

Mobile World Congress 2020 is the biggest mobile technology trade show, scheduled on 24-27 Feb in Barcelona, Spain.

Earlier, Nvidia, LG, ZTE, and Ericsson have already step back from the event. Now, Amazon and Sony pull out of 2020 Mobile Congress.

These companies cancel their presence due to Global Emergency i.e. Coronavirus outbreak all over the world.

Mobile World Congress 2020

Mobile World Congress 2020 will be taking place this month in between 24-27 Feb. However, this year the MWC is organized in Barcelona, Spain. In fact, it is the world’s largest exhibition for the mobile industry, organized by the GSM Association. It is also famous for conferences held by prominent executives of the mobile industry.

Why Sony and Amazon step back from the Event?

Earlier, LG, ZTE, Ericsson, and Nvidia already step back from the various events at Mobile World Congress. However, Sony and Amazon also set their name on the list of companies to denied participating in the event. It is said that the Coronavirus outbreak is the reason behind this.

Recently, Sony posted on its website, “Sony has been closely monitoring the evolving situation following the novel coronavirus outbreak, which was declared a global emergency by the World Health Organization on January 30th, 2020”. Also, it added, “As we place the utmost importance on the safety and wellbeing of our customers, partners, media, and employees, we have taken the difficult decision to withdraw from exhibiting and participating at MWC 2020 in Barcelona, Spain”.

Amazon higher authorities reported that “Due to the outbreak and continued concerns about novel coronavirus, Amazon will withdraw from exhibiting and participating in Mobile World Congress 2020, scheduled for Feb. 24-27 in Barcelona, Spain”.

Previous History of Amazon and Sony at Mobile World Congress

As we see back, Sony often uses MWC as a platform to showcase its most important mobile devices. In fact, last year, Sony revealed its Xperia 1 flagship phone at the show. “But this year, we will instead make its announcements online through its Xperia YouTube channel”, said Sony.

However, Amazon has not visited the event that often in history; neither presented its devices at MWC.

Coronavirus Safety Measures at MWC

Yesterday, the GSM Association, which organizes MWC reported about the steps to be taken to avoid the spread of the coronavirus further. “No travelers from China’s Hubei province, where the outbreak began, will be permitted access to the event, while anyone who’s visited other regions of China will need to prove that they have been out of the country for 14 days beforehand”, said GSM Association. Further, it added, “With MWC set to start in two weeks today, that is likely to complicate the plans of several Chinese companies that were planning to attend”.

Jayshri

Jayshri is an Electronics Engineer, but her passion towards writing made her to be in this field. Apart from content writing, she loves reading, writing and surfing on various topics. In her free time, she likes to watch TV series and news. Sherlock Holmes is her all time favorite show. Jayshri loves cooking various Indian-western dishes.