SK Telecoms' Joyn service hits 1 million mark

South Korean operator SK Telecom has announced that it has acquired one million users for its Joyn service, just 50 days after of launching it.

SK Telecom launched its joyn.T rich communications service to subscribers in late December 2012. The operator’s version of the service allows users to share video content and send image files, location and contact information during a call.

The operator said that since the launch, it has been constantly upgrading the performance of its service through system optimisation, server expansion and customer feedback. SK Telecom has already introduced unlimited, free-for-life joyn.T SMS and IMS services to its smartphone subscribers on flat-rate plans. In addition, data fees incurred from sending or receiving messages will not be deducted from subscribers’ data allowance, the firm said.

SK Telecom now plans to open APIs of joyn.T to SMEs that wish to develop and launch games, social networking services and mobile commerce applications.

The Joyn proposition was first announced by GSMA at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona 2012. It is the operator group’s response to the increasing popularity of network independent, OTT messaging applications.

The GSMA believes the Korean operator’s success will trigger interest from more mobile carriers and manufacturers globally to accelerate commercial launches of Joyn services.

In November 2012, Spain’s three largest operators:Movistar, Orange and Vodafone, began offering the Joyn service to subscribers. At the time Michael O’Hara, chief marketing officer at the GSMA, said that operators around the world would benefit from the leading efforts of the Spanish operators.

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