SK Telecom (SKT) has inked publishing agreements with CelcomDigi Berhad (CelcomDigi), the leading telecommunications firm in Malaysia, and Cherry, an IoT platform company in the Philippines, in a move to expedite its growth across Southeast Asia. Yang Mung-seok, Head of Metaverse CO at SKT, was present alongside CelcomDigi's Chief Innovation Officer Kugan Thirunavakarasu and Cherry's Chief Operating Officer Michelle Marie Ngu-Cinco during the recent signing ceremony.
SKT, in partnership with CelcomDigi and Cherry, is set to roll out a regionally tailored Metaverse platform and will manage its provision worldwide. CelcomDigi and Cherry will concentrate on forging local brand alliances, tailoring marketing strategies, and providing primary customer support in their respective regions.
Furthermore, SKT plans to integrate AI functionalities into ifland this year, such as social AI agents designed to resonate with local languages and cultures and 3D AI studios that generate culturally relevant 3D items and spaces tailored to each country's unique heritage.
Beginning with Southeast Asian nations, SKT is actively seeking collaborations in the Americas and South America, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between the metaverse and AI. This initiative aims to broaden the company's e-franchise into a 'Global AI Metaverse' service, ensuring a seamless user experience even across diverse environmental settings.
Moreover, SKT intends to enhance the Metaverse encounter for users worldwide by incorporating support for languages like Malay, Indonesian, Hindi, and Spanish within the initial six months of the year. Additionally, they will introduce a curation functionality suggesting content based on customer attributes linked to their region.
"Malaysia and the Philippines are important markets for ifland's global expansion", said Yang at SKT. "We will work with local publishers and introduce AI to become a 'global AI Metaverse'". "We look forward to working with ifland to revolutionize the metaverse industry and extend customer value with CelcomDigi's network technology and AI-powered solutions", said Kugan Thirunavakarasu, CIO of CelcomDigi. "We are excited to work together to bring new Metaverse experiences to global users on ifland", said Michelle Marie Ngu-Cinco, COO of Cherry.