SEOUL -- The South Korean government has given final approval to SK Telecom's purchase of a $1.2 billion controlling stake in fixed line/broadband operator hanarotelecom inc. The deal is expected to heavily impact Korea's growing IPTV sector, as well as the telecoms market as a whole.
The Ministry of Information and Communications placed certain marketing and service conditions on the purchase, but did not oblige SK Telecom to share the coveted 800 Mhz mobile phone frequency band to which it has exclusive rights until June 2011.
Korea's Fair Trade Commission recommended last week that the ministry review SK's monopoly over the band. Rival telcos KTF and LG Telecom, which use a 1.8 Ghz band that offers lower quality connections, have been lobbying for access to the 800 Mhz frequency.
Meanwhile, SK's 39% share in hanarotelecom will give it control over IPTV service HanaTV, which has a market leading 850,000 subscribers compared to 400,000 for KT's MegaTV and 2,900 for LG Dacom's high-end myLGtv service.
The IPTV market is expected to grow strongly this year due to the recent removal of regulatory hurdles that have held back the introduction of real-time broadcasting and other services. Currently subscriber numbers are growing at a rate of more than 100,000 per month.
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