Unicom, SK ink joint venture
21/3/2003 14:56
China's second largest mobile telecommunications service operator
China United Telecommunications Corp., and South Korean telecom giant SK Telecom
have inked a joint venture deal, China Unicom officials said
yesterday.
China Unicom will hold a 51 percent stake in the US$6 million
venture and SK will hold the remaining stake.
The joint company will
operate value-added businesses based on the CDMA (Code-Division Multiple Access)
network in mainland China, including short messaging service.
A China
Unicom official will serve as the company's board director, while an official
from SK will be the general manager.
The joint venture is part of China
Unicom's strategy to tap the CDMA mobile data service, market analysts pointed
out.
Before the SK deal, it signed agreements to launch joint ventures
with other world leading telecom companies including Microsoft and Qualcomm,
they noted.
"As well as attracting more high-end customers, the data
service will create a new revenue source for China Unicom," a China Unicom
official who refused to be identified said.
The first Internet service
provider and largest telecom service operator in South Korea, SK serves 53
percent of the country's 30 million mobile phone users.
Jane Chen / Shanghai Daily news
|
