South Korean operator SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom announced that they entered into a strategic business partnership agreement to collaborate in the fields of services, Internet of Things (IoT) and related R&D areas, according Telecompaper. With the aim to strengthen their capabilities as ICT industry leaders and to achieve new growth through joint business opportunities in Asian and European markets, SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom will cooperate in the global sales of innovative solutions and products and work together to lead standardisation of innovative technologies, including 5G enabling technologies and SDDC (Software-Defined Data Centre). As part of the collaboration, SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom will also make joint efforts to expand markets for their solutions and products/services. SK Telecom's technological competency in cloud streaming was demonstrated through the solution tests conducted at Deutsche Telekom's T-Labs in December 2015.
The two companies will conduct a feasibility test for its potential commercialisation in Deutsche Telekom's footprint by the second quarter. Going forward, through partnership with Deutsche Telekom, SK Telecom expects to secure a bridgehead to enter into the European markets with its cloud streaming solution.
Provided by SK Telecom's subsidiary Entrix, Cloud Streaming enables even the legacy/low-end set-top boxes to support the latest user interfaces, as it is built on software virtualization technologies. The solution thereby allows companies to significantly reduce costs for set-top box investment and subscriber acquisition, the company said.
Moreover, the two companies have agreed to introduce SK Telecom's pico beamer to Germany in the second quarter and then to other countries in Europe. They also agreed to launch Deutsche Telekom's in-car Wi-Fi solution in the Korean market.
SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom will also cooperate in the international roaming service area, including quality improvements, signature of Service Level Agreements and pursuit of LTE based roaming services.
