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South Korean operator SK Telecom (SKT) saw positive results in its non-traditional operations during the second quarter, indicating successful growth as a digital service provider (DSP). Consolidated revenue increased by 0.4% year on year to 4.3tn South Korean won (KRW) (.25bn) during this period. SKT reported a significant revenue growth of 9.2% in enterprise revenue, reaching KRW407bn (8m) by the end of June.

The company’s datacentre business played a significant role in driving this revenue growth with an increase of over 30% due to the high utilization rate of new datacentres and the establishment of a second centre in Bundang. Additionally, the cloud services unit saw a 60% increase in revenue, largely attributed to orders from game companies and financial institutions. SKT expects further growth in its cloud business through the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) services and the hybrid cloud market.

SKT also experienced revenue increases in its broadband unit, which grew by 3.4%, and its media business, which saw a growth of 1.2%. Net profit rose by 34.8% to KRW347.8bn (3m), partly due to one-off gains from its investment of 0m into electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Joby Aviation in June.

Furthermore, SKT highlighted the success of its metaverse platform ifland, which is gaining traction in the global market. In the second quarter, almost one-third of its monthly active users were from international markets.

SKT reaffirmed its strong leadership in the fixed and mobile services market, boasting 14.67 million 5G subscribers, a pay-TV subscriber base of 9.46 million, and 6.81 million broadband customers. The operator recently launched 25 new price plans targeting different age groups.

The company’s focus on becoming an AI company is evident through its efforts to enhance its own large language model (LLM). The upgraded model aims to facilitate multiturn dialogue, enabling a more logical and useful conversation for users.

SKT’s chief financial officer, Kim Jin-won, expressed the company’s commitment to shaping into a leading global AI company based on its strong performance. SKT also collaborated with other major telcos to establish the Global Telco AI Alliance, aiming to drive the AI transformation of the existing telco business and create new business opportunities with AI services.

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