Expansion Trial
South Korean mobile carriers are cooperating more and more closely with Chinese companies. For instance, LG U+ is working with Huawei in the IoT market. Huawei is going to provide 100,000 NB-IoT chipsets and modules for free for small South Korean firms working with LG U+. KT, in the meantime, formed a partnership with 87870.com, the largest VR platform provider in China. They are planning to set up VR experience zones, distribute VR content and establish global VR networks in cooperation with each other.
Such cooperation between South Korean mobile carriers and Chinese companies dates back to 2013, when LG U+ selected Huawei as an LTE base station equipment supplier. Since then, LG U+ has released Huawei’s mid-priced smartphones in the South Korean market.
KT is selling Huawei smartphones as well and SK Telecom has released a series of Alcatel smartphones. Next month, Huawei launches its high-end smartphones in the South Korean market.
Their cooperation is expected to be boosted in the future. “These days, Chinese ICT companies’ technological strength and competitiveness are not much below those of South Korean companies and the former are already outperforming the latter when it comes to price competitiveness,” said an industry source, adding, “It seems that Chinese companies are looking to increase their presence in the global ICT market by testing their technologies in the South Korean market well-equipped in terms of telecom infrastructure.”