SKT and DT to Establish 5G Technology Joint Venture in Germany

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SK Telecom and Deutsche Telekom are partnering on a 5G technology project in Germany. Each telecom will hold 50 percent of the joint venture and each will name a representative for the new entity.

Through the joint venture, SKT and DK plan to develop what they say are advanced 5G in-building solutions. They intend to develop market opportunities, starting with Europe. In the mid-to-long-term, they will also evaluate opportunities to cooperate in the areas of augmented reality and virtual reality services, mobile edge computing and the app market. 

According to analysts Markets and Markets, the global market for in-building Distributed Antenna System is expected to be worth USD 10.33 billion by 2023, growing at a CAGR of 10.1 percent between 2018 and 2023. Since there are not yet strong players dominating the market for 5G repeaters, the companies believe their joint approach will be well-positioned to pioneer the market.

SKT will contribute the technology assets it has developed to the joint venture. The company provided 5G/LTE dual-mode repeaters to support Telekom’s customer trial for in-building coverage carried out in eight different cities in Germany (Berlin, Hamburg, Bonn, Cologne, Munich, Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Leipzig) from August to October 2020. Customer trial results have shown that users experienced significant improvement in 5G and LTE for both voice and data experience with this test device, according to SKT. The joint venture is scheduled to complete the development of an advanced 5G/LTE dual-mode repeater.

The creation of the joint venture is still subject to mandatory regulatory approval but expected to close before the end of the year.

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