February 16, 2019

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[THE INVESTOR] Korea’s top mobile carrier SK Telecom said on Jan. 30 it will partner with Grab, Southeast Asia’s largest ride-hailing app, to provide real-time navigation services based on big data.

SKT and Grab signed an agreement to establish a joint venture, Grab Geo Holdings, in charge of developing advanced ride-hailing services in Southeast Asia. 

With 135 million downloads, Grab is the operator of the world’s third-largest ride-hailing app, trailing China’s Didi Chuxing and Uber of the US.

The Korean telecom giant operates the nation’s leading map and navigation app T-map with 11.5 million subscribers.

The two companies expect the JV to develop various location-based services by combining SKT’s map and navigation technology and Grab‘s vast traffic and road data in Southeast Asia.

Established in 2012, Grab offers ride-sharing services in 336 cities in eight Southeast Asian nations, including Singapore, the Philippines and Thailand.

As a first step, the JV will introduce real-time navigation for Grab users in Singapore in the first quarter, the companies said.

“The JV will be a starting point to greatly affect the way people use the mobility service in the Southeast Asian region,” SK Telecom CEO Park Jung-ho said in a signing ceremony.

“We will push to foster various growth drivers in the global mobility market.”

By Ram Garikipati and newswires (ram@heraldcorp.com)