SK Telecom (NYSE:SKM) and PT MelOn Indonesia, the company’s joint venture with PT. Telekomunikasi Indonesia, announced today the launch of an online music service called MelOn Indonesia (www.melon.co.id). This marks a major roll-out of SK Telecom’s global expansion plans under its Industrial Productivity Enhancement (IPE) strategy and underscores the company’s commitment to export content distribution platform in the international market.

MelOn Indonesia, meaning Melody On, is a digital music service which offers online and mobile users unlimited downloads and streaming of music. Unlike other music stores that offer pay-per-song, MelOn Indonesia users can now download or listen to a wide spectrum of music from Indonesian to American and British Pop as well as Korean, Japanese and Chinese under their subscription, which would cost around 30,000 rupiah (3,700 KRW) per month.  With this major competitive edge, MelOn Indonesia is expected to set a new trend for music consumption among Indonesian users.

The music content from MelOn Indonesia is distributed by the Digital Contents Exchange Hub, a data exchange hub not only for music, but also for games and video clips in Indonesia, which is managed by PT MelOn Indonesia and leverages the superb ICT capability and dominant brand position of PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia, as well as SK Telecom’s extensive experience in digital music business and expertise in operating its online music store in the South Korean market.  This advanced technology, coupled with user friendly features, promises a strong competitive position for MelOn Indonesia over other Indonesian local players.
 
"In line with the Industrial Productivity Enhancement (IPE) strategy we announced in October 2009, SK Telecom has been making aggressive efforts to develop new growth engines. The launch of MelOn Indonesia represents the kick-off of the Digital Contents Exchange Hub and marks our first step in exporting an IPE platform to the major international markets such as Indonesia. Building on our experience in the Indonesian market, we will expand our content distribution business in the Southeast Asian market," said Jee Dong-Seob, Executive Vice President and Head of IPE Business Division at SK Telecom.

Different MelOn Indonesia subscription plans will be available, such as, "Unlimited Download and Streaming" where users may listen and download songs on PC and DRM (Digital Rights Management)-supported mobile phone. Since the songs are protected with DRM, MelOn Indonesia users cannot copy or share the songs illegally. Users whose devices do not support DRM, like iPod or BlackBerry may subscribe to "MP3 Download" plan to enjoy DRM-free songs on their devices (the number of songs to download is limited under this plan). Other plans include streaming-only subscription and as well as pay-per-song.

Won Yong Jo, President Director of PT MelOn Indonesia said, "MelOn Indonesia is definitely a breakthrough for music-loving Indonesians. We offer attractive and affordable subscription plans with millions of song options. We are offering a 30-day free trial for newcomers to experience our service. We trust that MelOn Indonesia will be a big hit for Indonesian customers."

SK Telecom and Indonesia’s leading fixed and mobile telecommunication operator PT Telekomunikasi set up a joint venture for digital contents business in May this year. The venture, which is 51 percent owned by PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia and 49 percent owned by SK Telecom, is set to further build up the Digital Contents Exchange Hub in Indonesia.