South Korea’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom Co, says it will partner with Amazon to allow South Koreans to have easier access to products on the US e-commerce giant’s platform.
The carrier said users of its e-commerce unit 11Street will be able to directly purchase products on the Amazon US platform. It did not provide a specific time frame for the service’s launch.
SK Telecom said it has also made an agreement with Amazon so that the US tech giant has the right to acquire a stake in 11Street based on the South Korean e-commerce company’s progress in the local market.
The announcement comes as SK Telecom is currently planning an initial public offering (IPO) for 11Street.
The telco said in its third-quarter conference call that the e-commerce unit is among its list of subsidiaries, such as new mobility spinoff T map Mobility, that will pursue IPOs.
The e-commerce unit’s sales reached US$122.7 million in the third quarter, up 8 per cent from a year earlier, according to SK Telecom.
- Original reporting by Yonhap via Korea Bizwire
