S. Korea's mobile carriers expanding beyond telecom business

South Korea’s mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+ are expanding their non-telecom businesses to receive a greater share in the field of digital content delivered via both mobile and fixed-line networks.

The mobile carriers witnessed an increase in the total revenue of their non-telecom business in the April-June period this year, with people stuck at home spending more time watching video on IPTV and mobile platforms.

While their mobile carriers’ top executives wanted to focus more on the non-telecom business as new growth engines and to boost their revenue, it's uncertain whether they are ready to compete with specialized content providers.

Experts agree that the mobile carriers’ non-telecom business expansion is the right move, but they still have a long way to go to fully transform into a digital platform-based business structure.

In the second quarter, the bulk of the mobile carriers’ non-telecom income was from IPTV service and commerce businesses.

SK Telecom’s non-telecom business revenue, including media, security, and commerce, rose 10.1 percent to 1.58 trillion won during the same period. |It posted total revenue of 4.82 trillion won in the second quarter, up 4.7 percent on-year.

The non-telecom business’ share in total revenue surpassed 30 percent.

KT posted 4.48 trillion won in revenue while registering 1.71 trillion won in non-telecom business during the period. The ratio of non-telecom businesses in total revenue quadrupled to 38 percent, compared to a level seen in 2010.

KT is focusing on the subscription business for its internet data centers and cloud service while starting new business units in artificial intelligence, robotics, and digital biotechnology.

LG U+'s total revenue for the second quarter was 3.35 trillion won, with its non-telecom business generated 927.5 billion won, accounting for 27 percent of the total.