SK Telecom will team up with the country’s three terrestrial broadcasters to set up a local online video contents service by June. Park Jung-ho, SK Telecom CEO, said that the planned over the top (OTT) service will be created by consolidating two existing contents platforms. (image: SK Telecom)
SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — SK Telecom, South Korea’s No. 1 mobile operator said Thursday that it will team up with the country’s three terrestrial broadcasters to set up a local online video contents service by June.
Park Jung-ho, the president of the telecommunication company, said after signing a memorandum of understanding with the broadcasters in Seoul, that the planned over the top (OTT) service will be created by consolidating two existing contents platforms.
He said the merging of SK broadband Co.’s Oksusu service that has some 9.46 million paying subscribers, and the POOQ contents platform with around 680,000 members, will create an OTT with over 10 million clients.
SK broadband is linked to the telecom giant, while POOQ is a joint venture of the broadcasters — KBS, MBC and SBS.
The CEO said that to create the OTT, 200 billion won (US$177.3 million) in investment will be sought so the entity will have the resources to create more compelling contents.
He said that efforts will be made so the OTT can make inroads into the Southeast Asian market within the year.
Park, meanwhile, stressed that the new OTT will be an open platform that accepts all types of investors, even from contents providers outside the country.
He stressed that SK Telecom has no intention of controlling the company and that responsibility for management will be shared evenly.
Market watchers said the creation of the large OTT can lead to further growth of Korean cultural and entertainment content going forward. The service will be able to take advantage of better marketing, improved contents and the latest advantages in digital information technologies.
(Yonhap)
