South Korea’s largest telecommunications company SK Telecom Co. and global social networking giant Facebook Inc. joined hands to open a center in Korea, one of the most-wired countries in the world, to support startup companies in telecom infrastructure sector.

SK Telecom announced a plan to set up a center for telecom startups during the Telecom Infra Project (TIP) summit held at Facebook’s headquarters in California, the U.S. on Wednesday (local time). The TIP is an organization created under the leadership of Mark Zuckerberg, founder and chief executive officer of Facebook, with an aim to develop the next generation networks technology and improve the connectivity in developing economies. SK Telecom Chief Technology Officer Choi Jin-sung currently chairs the TIP.

According to the Korean company, the upcoming telecom startup incubator is the first of its kinds created by TIP. The decision of selecting Korea as the first location for such a startup incubation center in the field of telecom infrastructure indicates that Facebook has acknowledged the country’s advancement in telecom technology, said Choi.

The telecom infrastructure is considered as one of the toughest fields for fledgling startups with limited capital to survive as developing and testing a new technology requires between three and seven years before commercializing the technology.

Catering to the needs of startups, the Korean telecom firm will furnish business facilities as well as technological supports mentoring the young ventures, while Facebook will seek out promising startups and help them attract venture capitals in Silicon Valley, the U.S. Also, the incubation center will provide the startups with opportunities to collaborate with world’s leading telecom firms affiliated with TIP.

By Lim Sung-hyun

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