Deutsche Telekom and SK Telecom (SKT) will establish a joint venture tasked with developing new 5G technologies, building on an ongoing agreement between the companies to deepen ties.

In a statement, the two operators said they held a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, attended by 100 executives to discuss diverse 5G business strategies and combining forces in a new company.

The joint venture will develop 5G products and services, including a repeater, in-building solution, a Multipath UDP solution “to manage accesses for a seamless connectivity experience”, and MPEG Media Transport technology for low latency media streaming.

Both companies noted they plan to drive innovations using new platforms and applications to provide differentiated performance and experience in next-generation services.

In addition to the joint venture, SKT committed to invest $30 million in Deutsche Telekom Capital Partners (DTCP), a $350 million fund run by the German operator, which looks at finding start-ups in the ICT technology industry.

DTCP is also planning to open an office in Seoul, enhancing work with SKT.

5G partners
The companies have outlined ambitions to work together on 5G over the past year.

In October, both operators said they would invest in start-ups affiliated with the other, as a way to enhance their global prospects and competitiveness in 5G.

This was followed by the an agreement signed at Mobile World Congress 2019 to continue to accelerate the strategic partnership, with an eye on opportunities in LTE, 5G, OTT media, security and the cloud industry.

Timotheus Hoettges, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, said the partnership with SKT continued to be of “strategic importance.”

“We want to work together to make tangible result and strengthen our partnership along with closer technical cooperation.”