China Unicom and SK Telecom yesterday signed an agreement to work together in a range of domains, including 5G and international roaming.
The operators signed a memorandum of understanding at Cape Town in South Africa, the site of this year's GSMA board meeting.
Under the agreement, the operators plan to co-operate on the development of 5G networking technologies, and conduct joint studies to promote the standardization and commercialization of 5G.
Both companies also plan to use the arrangement to offer more convenient and affordable roaming services to each others' customers.
South Korea's Tourism Association estimates that last year 6.13 million Chinese visited Korea and 4.18 million Koreans visited China, making the roaming collaboration a potentially lucrative move.
The agreement also covers collaboration on areas including building a startup ecosystem - including the establishment of a joint incubator program - and sharing information on platforms and related products and services.
“Through the MOU, SK Telecom and China Unicom will be able to offer differentiated and innovative services to customers,” SK Telecom CEO Jang Dong-hyun said.