South Korea’s SK Telecom is ceasing further investment in its Vietnamese subsidiary due to lower than anticipated profits and subscriber growth. However, the company says that it doesn’t plan to withdraw from its S-Fone partnership with Saigon Post and Telecommunication Corporation (SPT), only that it will wait with the 3G network rollout.
Korea Times newspaper interviewed a high-ranking SK Telecom, who said: “Since 2003, it has been investing over $150 million in Vietnam attracted by higher growth potential in Vietnam’s telecom market. But the investment return wasn’t so good.”
There’s also another angle to the story. Apparently, SK Telecom wants to convert the cooperation with SPT into a formal joint venture, and then sell a stake to South Korea-based private equity fund – Rutter Associates.
According to Mobile World, S-Fone ended last September with around 2.5 million customers, which is about 2.5% of the market.
[Via: CellularNews]