SKT, Harman, and Sinclair Transform American Car Life
Relevance and unveiling scheduled for NAB Show 2019 in April
ThorDrive and Domestic Autonomous Driving Service Collaboration
SK Telecom President Park Jung-ho discussed cooperation plans in 5G, media, and mobility with leading ICT and media companies such as Samsung Electronics and SM Entertainment at CES 2019, the world's largest IT and consumer electronics show held at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the United States.


Communications, battlefield, and broadcasting will come together to revolutionize American car life.
The most notable point of SK Telecom's activities at CES 2019 was automobiles.

On the 10th, SK Telecom agreed with Harman, the world's largest automotive electronics company, and Sinclair Broadcast Group, the largest terrestrial broadcaster in the U.S., to jointly develop an automotive platform that will lead car life innovation in the U.S.

The three companies will provide a vehicle platform that will allow drivers across the U.S. to access high-quality terrestrial broadcasting, real-time HD map updates, and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) communication technology through a broadcast network in their vehicles. We are developing it together. Once development is complete, we plan to launch a pilot service in the United States and then commercialize it.
In the United States, unlike in Korea, it has been difficult to use media services in vehicles due to limitations in communication network coverage and the inability to receive broadcast signals while moving.

Harman, acquired by Samsung Electronics for 9 trillion won in 2017, is the world's largest automotive electronics company. Its customers include major automakers worldwide and its competitive edge is recognized by its $24 billion backlog of orders in the connected car and car audio businesses.

Sinclair is the largest terrestrial broadcaster in the United States, with 173 TV stations and 514 channels across the country. As of 2017, the household viewership share was 40%, and sales for the same year amounted to $2.73 billion.

Through this collaboration, SK Telecom has established an opportunity to introduce its media technology and low-latency data transmission and reception technology into the U.S. automotive market.

SK Telecom plans to target the estimated 270 million vehicles sold across the United States, leveraging the high market share of Harman and Sinclair, while also entering the global connected car market, which is expected to grow rapidly in the future, to create new revenue streams.


Joint development of an ATSC 3.0-based automotive platform
The three companies plan to jointly develop an ATSC 3.0-based vehicle platform within this year by combining ▲SK Telecom's media technology and low-latency data transmission and reception technology ▲Harman's battlefield competitiveness ▲Sinclair's broadcasting infrastructure.

ATSC 3.0, established as the next-generation broadcasting technology standard in the United States, is characterized by its ability to transmit various types of data in real time through broadcasting networks. It is also possible to combine and utilize communication networks such as 5G, LTE, and Wi-Fi with broadcasting networks.

SK Telecom and Sinclair are working together to jointly develop ATSC 3.0-based solutions and equipment, including through the establishment of a joint venture.

The three companies plan to actively utilize SK Telecom's next-generation mobility-related communication technologies to develop ATSC 3.0 and 5G V2X and vehicle services utilizing them.

SK Telecom has been introducing wireless updates for automotive electronic control units (ECUs) firmware, HD map updates, and a 5G-based vehicle-to-everything (V2X) service platform with enhanced security using quantum cryptography technology.

The three companies plan to unveil their vehicle media platform and related equipment and services for the first time at the 'NAB Show (National Association of Broadcasters) 2019', the world's largest broadcasting equipment exhibition held in Las Vegas, USA in April this year.


The three companies are also pursuing expansion into the global market.
This collaboration was achieved through the alignment of SK Telecom's strategy to develop media technology as a pillar of New ICT, Sinclair's plan to achieve qualitative growth through business model innovation, and Harman's will to further strengthen its leadership in the future connected car market.
The three companies are expected to have rapid growth in the future.We also plan to pursue entry into the connected car market. Market analysis firm TMR predicted that the global connected car market would grow to $132 billion (approximately KRW 148 trillion) in 2019.

SK Telecom President Park Jung-ho said, “Media and mobility are key business areas that will undergo innovative changes in the 5G era,” and added, “We will start with the US market and then advance into the global market together with Harman and Sinclair, who are leaders in their respective fields.”

“Connected cars are evolving into personalized mobile devices that consume data to provide the best stability, reliability and optimized user experience,” said Dinesh Paliwal, CEO of Harman. “We are excited to partner with two industry leaders to introduce ‘ATSC 3.0,’ a powerful technology that will complement LTE and 5G to enable smoother high-capacity data communications.”

“We are excited to work with SK Telecom and Harman to develop an ATSC 3.0 automotive platform,” said Christopher Ripley, CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group. “We believe this collaboration will further enhance the mobility of ATSC 3.0 and unleash its potential for U.S. broadcasters, including Sinclair.”


Korea's 5G autonomous driving service launches
Additionally, SK Telecom will collaborate with ThorDrive, founded by Professor Seungwoo Seo of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University, who is considered one of the top autonomous driving experts in Korea, to provide domestic 5G autonomous driving services.
On the 9th, SK Telecom signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ThorDrive for Autonomous Driving Business Development and Technology Cooperation at CES 2019. The signing ceremony was attended by SK Telecom's Jang Yoo-seong, Head of the AI/Mobility Business Unit, and ThorDrive Founder Seo Seung-woo.

SK Telecom and ThorDrive plan to commercialize various services in Korea, including ▲ building autonomous shuttle vehicles for congested areas in downtown Seoul, ▲ providing autonomous robot taxis for the transportation disadvantaged in island and mountainous areas, and ▲ ‘last mile’ autonomous delivery in cooperation with logistics and delivery companies.

To this end, SK Telecom plans to advance technologies such as 5G V2X technology, HD map updates, and a fleet management service (FMS). ThorDrive will be responsible for developing autonomous driving technology and software, advancing unmanned autonomous driving solutions, and supplying and modifying autonomous vehicles.

ThorDrive is a startup founded in 2015 by Professor Seungwoo Seo of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Seoul National University and his students, and is currently operating in Silicon Valley, USA. The autonomous vehicle they previously created, 'Snuver', has proven its technological prowess by driving over 60,000 km for three years without an accident in the complex downtown area of Seoul, including Yeouido.

ThorDrive, which established a corporation in the United States in late 2017, has been moving quickly, such as launching an autonomous delivery service with Ace Hardware, a global building materials distributor in the United States, in November 2018.

SK Telecom stated, “In order to lead the autonomous driving field, where fierce competition is taking place, cooperation with expert groups such as ThorDrive is essential,” and added, “We will continue to build an autonomous driving ecosystem by cooperating with various partners with specialized capabilities in the mobility field.”

SK Telecom President Park Jung-ho said about this move, “5G will bring about innovative changes across all industries, especially in the media and mobility sectors,” and “SK Telecom will lead innovation in 5G and the media and mobility sectors through barrier-free cooperation.”