SKT Collaborates with UAE's No.1 Telecom Operator Etisalat Group on Metaverse Business

Joint Promotion of Metaverse Business in the Middle East Region

Khalifa Al Shamsi, CEO of e& life (left), and Hamin Yong, Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of SKT, are posing for a commemorative photo after signing an agreement at the e& Group headquarters in Dubai. Photo by SKT

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] SK Telecom announced on the 12th that it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with e& Group, the No.1 telecommunications operator in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to jointly promote metaverse (extended virtual world) business in the Middle East region.

e& Group is a global ICT company providing telecommunications services in 16 countries across the Middle East, Asia, and Africa. Etisalat Group restructured its governance this year and changed its name to e& Group.

With a strong interest in the metaverse business, e& Group selected SKT, which operates the ‘ifland’ service in Korea, as its metaverse business partner in the Middle East region.

The two companies will jointly promote metaverse business in key countries where e& Group provides telecommunications services, such as the UAE and Saudi Arabia. e& Group, with its deep understanding of the Middle Eastern market, will provide SKT with information and insights on customer analysis, business model development, and service delivery methods. Based on this, SKT will implement metaverse services optimally tailored to the needs of customers in the Middle East. They plan to create virtual spaces within the metaverse service representing iconic cities or buildings of the UAE and develop digital clothing and exclusive avatars reflecting Middle Eastern culture.

Along with signing the MOU, SKT and e& Group have begun discussions on market research to understand consumer characteristics in the Middle East. They plan to analyze the metaverse service usage experience and behavior of e& Group’s telecommunications subscribers and verify market feasibility based on the findings.

Meanwhile, as the first step of this cooperation, SKT and e& Group will operate a joint metaverse booth at GITEX, the largest information and communications technology exhibition in the Middle East, held from October 10 to 14. At the exhibition booth, a volumetric concert will be held hosted by Saud Al Kaabi, a local UAE actor and TV talk show host, and e& Group will showcase non-fungible tokens (NFTs) produced directly by the company.

Kalifa Al Shamsi, CEO of e& life, said, “This partnership with SKT marks a significant advancement for e& Group, which has been investing in building a strong metaverse ecosystem. This collaboration will be the starting point of a new journey to create an innovative virtual world that customers have never experienced before.”

Ham Min-yong, Chief Development Officer (CDO) of SKT, said, “Through the partnership with e& Group, we will explore new possibilities for metaverse services,” adding, “We will continue comprehensive cooperation with e& Group not only in the metaverse but also in various ICT fields in the future.”