SK Telecom Partners with Telecom New Zealand, IoT Sees More Inter-Operator Collaboration

The growth in Internet-of-Things (IoT) will see the creation of new  technologies and services, with hardware and software solutions as well as innovative end-products rolling into the market at an increasing pace as more players in the ICT segment jump on the bandwagon to tap the business and revenue opportunities that abound in this fast developing area. Within the ICT segment, telecom operators are expected to be among the players most geared towards this area as the IoT will impact their existing services in very profound ways. If and when every device, machine and person become connected to the network, the demand on the bandwidth, the surge in traffic during peak hours and the need for very flexible service packages that meet specific industry and consumer needs will force operators to transform and enhance their networks' capacities and capabilities as well as develop newer service offerings in the market.

Based on a recent announcement by South Korea's SK Telecom, a leading telecommunications company with more than 27 million mobile subscribers and more than 50% market share in South Korea, telecom operators are already responding to the demand that IoT will bring upon their networks via various technology initiatives as well as strategic partnerships and collaboration among themselves. SK Telecom signed an MOU this week with Telecom New Zealand, a major operator in New Zealand to share their expertise and capabilities and to collaborate on various sub-segments within the IoT business including the Smart Car, Telematics and Smart City with the possibility of extending this to other areas such as the Smart Farm. In its statement, SK Telecom said that the signing took place in Oakland, New Zealand and was attended by Cho Seung-won, Senior Vice President and Head of Public Business Office 3 of SK Telecom, and Simon Moutter, CEO of Telecom New Zealand. The signing comes ahead of the Korea, Australia, New Zealand (KANZ*) Technology Summit 2014, its 8th forum which carries the theme of Sensing and IoT.

SK Telecom, which has been working on various IoT services since year 2000 highlighted that Korea is ranked 2nd among the G20 countries after the US by IDC for its IoT preparedness in 2013, reflecting its leadership in the global IoT industry in diverse areas including the automobile, positioning, and remote meter reading. Apart from its partnership with Telecom New Zealand, SK Telecom has earlier this year launched the Bridge Alliance for M2M with 10 other mobile network operators in Asian Pacific, marking increased industry partnership in the IoT area as part of telecom operators' strategy to prepare their networks for future market demands.