Three SEA Telcos Join Hands for Gaming Dev

Southeast Asian gamers can expect better gaming services experience in the next year as three major telcos in the region joined hands with this aim.

The joint venture made by SK Telcom Co. of South Korea together with Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (Singtel) and Advanced Info Service Public Company Ltd. (AIS) of Thailand aims to provide better gaming services by connecting to leading international game developers.

In a press release by Singtel on Monday, March 9, CEO Mr. Arthur Lang of Singtel’s International Group recognized the appeal of digital entertainment to its customers.

“In the past two years, we’ve worked with various partners in the gaming ecosystem on regional esports efforts, such as PVP Esports, to connect with Gen Z and millennial audiences,” said Lang, as quoted in the press release.

“This has received strong support from the community and spurred us to deepen our engagement beyond esports into gaming content distribution,” he added.

This Series A investment hopes to ease out operations related to media content in esports and esports in general.

Furthermore, the joint venture also aims to “leverage the partners’ Korean and Southeast Asian gaming and entertainment content offering to engage the 800 million gamers in the region” as stated in the press report.

In the midst of the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak, the agreement had to be signed remotely by the CEOs last Thursday, March 5. A video conference connecting Seoul, Singapore, and Bangkok was held instead of a formal ceremony.

As reported by the Yonhap News Agency, the venture has yet to be named.

“We are very excited to be joining forces with Singtel and SK Telecom in developing this new venture,” said Alistair David Johnston, Managing Director of New Business at AIS.

In a separate press report by SK Telecom, the regional gaming joint venture also marks the next step in the partnership between Singtel and SK Telecom. The two telcos have a Memorandum of Understanding in effect early 2019 to develop the region’s gaming and esports ecosystem.