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SK Telecom and China Unicom sign 5G, roaming MoU

by Dan Meyer
written by Dan Meyer Share
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SK Telecom and China Unicom

Agreement covers joint work between SK Telecom and China Unicom on 5G development

SK Telecom and China Unicom signed a memorandum of understanding focused on working together to develop a range of mobile and enterprise technologies.

The MoU, signed this week at a GSMA board meeting in South Africa, includes plans to develop “5G” technology; international roaming; platform and startup support for customer support services; and “lead the development of the overall ICT industry.” The signing was attended by Jang Dong-hyun, president and CEO of SK Telecom and Lu Yimin, president and vice chairman of China Unicom.

The 5G-related work is set to include sharing of information, conducting joint studies, and to promote standardization and commercialization of 5G. SK Telecom has an extensive background targeting work on 5G technology, while the Chinese government last month signed a 5G cooperation agreement with the European Union.

The roaming agreement looks to be of a more immediate nature, with the Korea Tourism Organization reporting more than 6 million Chinese visited Korea last year, while more than 4 million Koreans visited China.

SK Telecom spokesperson Cindy Kang told RCR Wireless News, “SK Telecom’s cooperative relationship with China Unicom, the rising 3G/LTE leader in China, began with the collaboration in the CDMA field in 2000. In addition to providing enhanced customer benefits (e.g. better customer services enabled through cooperation for advanced global roaming services) and maintaining global leadership through reinforcing our partnership in the mobile communications sector, SK Telecom and China Unicom both share interests in seeking business opportunities in new growth areas, such as platform/OTT, joint investment and global joint venture incubator, through the MoU.”
Kang continued: “Through subscriber-base expansion in telecommunications, we hope to provide higher quality services to our customers and share resources and capabilities in the new growth areas to create a synergy. SK Telecom also looks forward to building a strong foundation for business in China – its importance rapidly growing as the world’s largest market –  through a stable partnership with China Unicom.”
She wasn’t able to provide a specific timeline, but said the two companies “are hoping to obtain tangible and specific results.”
Other parts of the MoU call for the two companies to share information on select product and service platforms, including over-the-top services and work on creating new market opportunities. SK Telecom said it expects to “gain a valuable opportunity to introduce its Next-Generation Platforms to the Chinese market.”

SK Telecom and China Unicom also agreed to cooperate on building a startup ecosystem designed to create a “cooperative venture incubator program to jointly conduct the overall process of incubation, from search for venture items to their market introduction.”

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