SK Telecom, South Korea’s leading telecommunications carrier, on Monday said it has secured new partnerships with three IT companies based in Southeast Asia, aiming to boost the number of global users of its metaverse platform, ifland.

Launched in 2021, SKT's ifland is a metaverse platform where users can build their digital avatars to interact in virtual spaces.

Eyeing the global market, the South Korean telecom company inked three memoranda of understanding with Celcom Digi, the largest wireless carrier in Malaysia, Indonesian video game development company Agate, and Philippine-based mobile device producer Cosmic Technologies, respectively.

The Southeast Asian companies agreed to discuss localization strategies for ifland by developing content catered to the local market as well as promoting marketing and customer services.

Since July, SKT had conducted partnerships on a trial basis by operating “if home” -- a virtual home where companies can better communicate with customers -- for the three overseas partners, even before the agreement.

These partnerships are expected to benefit both SKT and the Southeast Asian partners, an SKT official said.

While the three IT companies get to enter the metaverse market without incurring excessive development costs, SKT can supply and promote creative content customized for each specific country via the partners.

To provide quality services at the global level, the Korean company also plans to add language options for Indonesian, Malay, Hindi and Spanish as well as a content curation function that recommends relevant content to users based on their location.

Meanwhile, the ifland mobile app is available in a total of 49 countries.

“The new partnerships will allow us to carry out localized marketing strategies for ifland,” said Yang Maeng-seog, head of metaverse operations at SKT. “We will continue to provide suitable content and services for global users via overseas partners.”