Internet service provider EarthLink
today announced a joint venture deal with South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom .
The $440 million dollar agreement will market a number of different wireless data and voice
services in the United States.
SK-EarthLink will be a non-facilities-based U.S. mobile virtual network operator.
Each partner will have a 50 percent ownership
stake, and the six member board of directors will be comprised of
three members appointed by each partner.
“The joint venture will take advantage of SK’s systems
and handsets for emerging 3G and Wi-Fi networks in the U.S.,
[allowing] mobile network operators to provide services that are
only available in places like Asia,” Garry Betty, EarthLink president and CEO, said in a conference call this morning.
“Customers of the EarthLink, SK joint venture will
have the power to listen to music; the gaming
capabilities of a GameBoy; the ability to stream e-mail and
video; find their friends with location-based services; and
many other things.”
Sky Dayton, founder and director of EarthLink, will serve as CEO
of SK-EarthLink.
“The wireless and Internet worlds are colliding, and
neither will be the same again,” said Dayton. “Utilizing emerging 3G networks and
harnessing the explosive growth of Wi-Fi, SK-EarthLink
will take the wireless experience in the U.S. to a new
level.”
Under the terms of the deal, each party will contribute $220
million in cash and other assets, with EarthLink
contributing $180 million in cash, its current wireless
subscribers, 30 employees and other assets valued at
$40 million.
The definitive agreement is expected in March 2005, and it will initially focus on
data applications that it will expect to launch in summer
2005 under brand names to be determined.
The companies hope the joint venture will generate
approximate revenues of $2 billion by 2009 and have 3
million subscribers.
Asia has been a hotbed of joint venture activity recently
in the next generation space. Earlier this week Nortel
made a joint venture deal with South Korea-based LG Electronics. And last
week, Nortel struck a joint venture deal
with China Putian.
