SK Telecom - History

History

SK Telecom was established in March 1984 under the name Korea Mobile Telecommunications Services Co., but was renamed Korea Mobile Telecommunications Corp. (KMT) in May 1988. It was a wholly owned subsidiary of the state monopoly phone company, Korea Telecom. In June 1994 SK Group became KMT's largest shareholder. KMT officially joined the SK Group in January 1997 and changed its name to SK Telecom in March of that year. In October 2000, SK Telecom became the second operator in the world after NTT's DoCoMo to launch a commercial 3G service using W-CDMA technology. In January 2002, this was followed up by launching the world's first CDMA2000 1xEV-DO network, offering greatly increased data transmission speeds.

In May 2005, SK Telecom decided to sell 60% of SK Teletech stock to Pantech. In 2006, SK Teletech has changed its brand name to "SKY" and remains as Pantech's mobile phone line.

In the company's early stages (1984–1993), it launched a mobile phone service for automobiles and paging service. In March 1984, the company started as Korea Mobile Telecommunication Service. In May 1984, the company kicked off mobile communication service for automobiles. In July 1988, the company launched mobile Telecommunication Service.

In the company's privatization stage (1994–1996), through privatization, Korea Mobile Telecommunications Service became part of SK Group. Since then, the company established foothold in the global market with world’s first commercialization of CDMA technology. In June 1994, the company SK Group becomes largest shareholder. In January 1995, the company achieved 1 million subscriber mark. In June 1996, the company became the third Korean company to be listed in NYSE(ADR).

In the company's international stage (1997–2000), Korea Mobile Communication Corporation was transformed to SK Telecom. SK Telecom also became the 6th company in the world to surpass 10 million subscriber mark. The company also began constructing the Northeast Asian CDMA belt encompassing China, Japan, Vietnam, and the whole Asian continent. In March 1997, the company name changed to SK Telecom. In October 1997, the company launched online service NETSGO. In June 1998, the company SK Telink Corp. started commercial overseas call service. In December 1998, the company SK Teletech Corp. launched first mobile handset. In April 1999, the company joined mobile comm. project in Mongolia. In July 1999, the company launched TTL, a telecommunication brand targeting the youth market . In Oct. 1999, the company started wireless internet service n.TOP. In Dec. 1999, the company surpassed 10 million subscriber mark. In Oct. 2000, the company launched world’s first commercial service for CDMA2000. In Dec. 2000, the company won contract on asynchronous IMT-2000 (WCDMA) service.

In the company's ubiquitous age (2001–2007), it began wired/wireless multimedia service era and began efforts to combine and converge mobile communication service. In the meantime, the company started seeking new value-creating models such as M-Commerce and satellite DMB Service. In Jan. 2002, the company completed merger of Sinsegi Communications. In Jan. 2002, the company launched world’s first synchronous IMT-2000 commercial service. In March 2002, the company started global roaming between countries adapting CDMA or GSM services. In April 2002, the company signed contract with Pelephone in Israel to provide wireless Internet platform. In July 2002, the company signed MOU with China Unicom to establish a joint venture. In Nov. 2002, the company launched mobile multimedia service June. In Nov. 2002, the company launched mobile payment service MONETA. In July 2003, the company started commercialized CDMA service in Vietnam. In Aug. 2003, the company June became the world’s first 3G service to get 1 million subscribers. In Feb. 2004, the company won certificate to establish UNISK, a joint corporate with China Unicom. In March 2004, the company launched world’s first DMB satellite. In November 2004, the company opened Melon, wired/wireless music portal service. In April 2005, the company started ‘1mm’ service. In November 2005, the company opened ‘Loview’, a digital photo frame service. In December 2005, the company reached 4 million subscriber base for Melon. In Janunary 2006, the company achieved sales record over 10 trillion KRW. In May 2006, the company commercialized handset-type HSDPA for the first time in the world. In May 2006, the company advanced into the U.S. mobile communication market with Helio. In June 2006, the company signed strategic partnership with China Unicom and purchased CB worth 1 billion USD. In June 2006, the company started commercial Wibro service. In April 2007, the company S-Fone in Vietnam reached 2 million subscriber mark. In April 2007, the company launched TD-SCDMA project with Chinese government.