InscoBee, a subsidiary of KOSPI-listed company and a leading budget phone carrier in Korea, Pritelcom, announced on the 31st that it has signed a contract with Canadian major telecommunications company Telus Inc to provide customized communication services for the Korean community in Canada.
The two companies held a signing ceremony at Telus headquarters in Canada, where Pritelcom CEO Lee Seok-hwan and Telus Vice President Bridget Thomas jointly signed the contract. Through this agreement, a dual (Dual) rate plan between Canada and Korea will be introduced, allowing the Korean community traveling between the two countries to conveniently use communication services along with various additional services such as Korean OTT services, DID (identity verification) services, points, coupons and membership services, and online education services.
Pritelcom becomes the first domestic MVNO operator to directly enter an overseas market. Canada is one of the countries with the highest household burden for communication costs within the OECD. With an average monthly communication cost of around $80, the plan is to expand users by providing affordable communication services to students, Korean residents, and Korean tourists living in Canada.
While about 70 budget phone companies fiercely compete on price in the domestic market, MVNO business is not active in Canada, resulting in less price competition and business can only be conducted through direct partnerships with local telecom companies. Therefore, Pritelcom’s entry into Canada is evaluated as finding a new blue ocean beyond the domestic market.
A Pritelcom official said, “With the rapid growth of overseas SIM card business in a short period, we gained confidence in overseas business and actively pursued this contract with Telus.” He added, “In fact, Pritelcom has consecutively ranked first in various consumer surveys, brand satisfaction, and customer preference surveys recently announced, securing business substance and future growth beyond simple price competition.”
He continued, “We plan to use the contract with Telus as a stepping stone for overseas expansion and expand partnerships with telecom companies in the US, Japan, and other countries to provide global services.” He added, “We expect to provide real value to the Korean community through various additional services closely related to their daily lives beyond simple communication services.”
Pritelcom aims to complete system development, including dual number services, by utilizing Telus’s communication platform with Telus’s technical support and plans to officially launch the service by the end of the year.
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