Archive for October 26th, 2007

Korea’s SK Telecom Buys Instaphone

Published by Babar Bhatti on October 26, 2007 under Companies, Foreign Investment, Investment, Mobile Companies, Telecommunications

sk060516.jpgPakistan’s smallest cellular phone company by subscriber numbers, Instaphone has may have been sold to SK Telecom of South Korea with management control and majority shares, according to unofficial sources.

This was first posted at TGP by Uzair Ahmed. See my previous coverage of this topic. The official notification and details from SK Telecom is yet to be made so this deal is not certain yet.

As reported in the local media.

We had news of SK Telecom biding for Pakcom, which operates with brand name of Insta Phone in Pakistan. The situation got clearer in recent days when the officials confirmed the news. And now we are in good position to quote that Instaphone has been sold to SK Telecom. The details of the agreement are not made public; however, the agreement confirmation has arrived from both sides.

Mr. Shahid Feroz, CEO Insta Phone Pakistan, commenting on the acquisition said that this would be the opening of another success chapter in Pakistan’s telecom market. However, he didn’t reveal the details of the contract, but he was optimistic that the final agreement will be duly signed with in one month’s time. Mr. Feroz disclosed some of SK Telecom’s plan for Pakistan market. He said that the company is willing to rollout country’s first 3G network. He also told that the management rights will also shift away to SK Telecom along with majority of shares in Pakcom.

Insta Phone, which started its service back in 1990, hold 350,000 customers in Pakistan, operates using TDMA technology. Sources have told that Assessment of Pakcom was prepared by Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited (HSBC) and Deutsche Bank of Germany.

SK Telecom revealed three key business areas to be concentrated on. These are the furtherance of their global reach by expanding internationally, developing the convergence of telecommunications and broadcasting, and searching for new business opportunities.

With an aim towards becoming a major player in information communication under an economic umbrella that will be over all of East Asia, SK is actively seeking multifaceted business opportunities in overseas markets.

Established in 1984, SK Telecom has a number of interesting networks under its belt including CDMA 2000, HSDPA etc. True to the uniqueness of South Korean market, the company offers a number of wired/wireless and application services.