* EarthLink, SK Telecom to further skew U.S. mobile market
In the wake of the big cellular mergers already at work to alter the dynamics of the mobile landscape, a new joint venture between ISP EarthLink and Korean mobile powerhouse SK Telecom should further shake up what kinds of services users can get at a fair price.
Announced last week, SK-EarthLink aims to market 3G-class wireless voice and data services in addition to Wi-Fi hot spot services throughout the U.S. The cellular services will be deployed using networks from existing mobile operators such as Sprint and Verizon Wireless.
Sky Dayton, who will serve as SK-EarthLink CEO, is no stranger to the model. He is founder and chairman of EarthLink and Wi-Fi hot spot provider Boingo Wireless. Boingo aggregates and resells Wi-Fi services using the wireless LAN infrastructures of partner networks to create a network footprint larger than any single partner network.
Network coverage is one of the most important factors for users, because it is a direct contributor to service quality (no signal = no connection). In this regard, using a service aggregator might not be a bad way to go. The venture could also be a route to avoiding the dread inter-carrier “roaming fees” and to motivate a given entity to offer cellular-to-Wi-Fi network handoffs without fear of lost revenue as mobile users transition from one network type to another.
This is all speculation, of course; service details aren’t expected for a couple of months, and commercial services aren’t planned until sometime this summer. Dayton implied that the venture will attempt to catch the U.S. up to the more multimedia-savvy wireless service users in other parts of the world like South Korea. He said in a statement that “Americans are living in the past” in that we tend to use mobile phones primarily for voice-only services.
In the spirit of “getting hip,” Verizon Wireless announced VCAST earlier this month – a multimedia wireless service delivering TV and other content from MTV, NBC News, Newcorp, 20th Century Fox and other sources for a $15 premium on top of your monthly wireless calling rate.
