Seoul, Korea, 21 September 2007 - SK Telecom held a board of directors meeting on September 20 and issued a public disclosure to announce a USD200 million investment in Helio, SK Telecom’s mobile venture in the U.S.

According to the BOD decision, SK Telecom will invest a maximum of USD200 million in SK Telecom USA Holdings, gearing up to expand the Helio subscriber base through handset and service development and marketing activities which include expanding the distribution network.

Since the establishment of the joint venture between SK Telecom and Earthlink, the Mobile Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) has proven its strong innovation competency in the U.S. with cutting-edge handsets such as Ocean and Fin and a variety of industry-first services including MySpace Mobile, H.O.T. and Buddy Beacon. 

In particular, since the launch of Helio Ocean handset, Helio has posted an average of over 30 percent subscriber growth per month, reaching the 130,000 subscriber mark as of late August. Its average revenue per user is over USD90 dollars a month, showing strong growth momentum. Building on these remarkable achievements, Helio plans to surpass the 200,000 to 250,000 subscriber mark by the end of year 2007.

In June, SK Telecom approved to invest USD100 million in SK Telecom USA Holdings to reinforce its business within the Helio Brand. With the new BOD decision allowing for another USD200 million investment, SK Telecom’s stake in Helio will rise to USD520 million from its initial capital investment of USD220 million.

SK Telecom expects that if necessary, Helio will be able to raise funds from the market without drawing further investment from either parent company. Building on the confidence, SK Telecom said Helio may be aligning with a strategic partner if needed.

Shin Bae Kim, CEO of SK Telecom showed strong commitment to Helio by saying, "In 2007, SK Telecom learned valuable lessons from the U.S. market. Based on that, we made this investment decision aiming to drive our U.S. business more aggressively."

SK Telecom also announced that it will establish a holdings company in the U.S. in October and will invest USD110 million in the new company. It said the holdings company will build a strong foundation to promote SK Telecom’s global Internet business in the U.S.