[Conference Call] SKT: "Anthropic Stake Sale to Be Considered Based on Market Conditions... Token Gateway Business Underway"

"SK Hyper in talks on terms with 3-4 global operators"
"5G SA launch set for next month; 6G after 2030"
"Low Earth orbit satellite communications to have limited impact on domestic market"

SK Telecom has left open the possibility of selling its stake in Anthropic. It is also moving into the AI token gateway business, which can directly generate revenue by leveraging its 23 million subscribers and AI infrastructure.

Park Jongseok, SK Telecom's chief financial officer (CFO), said during a conference call on the afternoon of November 4 to announce the company's third-quarter 2026 results, "We plan to make a decision on selling our Anthropic shares after comprehensively considering potential business synergies, market conditions, growth prospects, and funding needs for investment. We will decide how to use the proceeds from any sale in a way that contributes to enhancing shareholder value, including by funding our medium- to long-term investment plans, such as AI data centers."

SK Telecom's Euljiro headquarters. SK Telecom

SK Telecom made a strategic investment of $100 million (approximately 130 billion won) in Anthropic in 2023 and invested an additional $100 million through its U.S. investment subsidiary in the first half of this year. As of the end of June, the book value of SK Telecom's stake in Anthropic stood at approximately 3.505 trillion won.

The company is also entering the AI token gateway business, leveraging its subscriber base and payment system. Park said, "We are preparing a token gateway business that will manage customers' AI usage and connect them with models and infrastructure suited to their needs, leveraging our 23 million subscribers, payment system, and platforms and infrastructure capable of providing multiple AI models."

Explaining the roles of subsidiaries SK Hyper and SK Horizon, which are responsible for infrastructure such as AI data centers (AIDCs), he said, "SK Horizon will focus on data center operations centered in the Seoul metropolitan area and expanding its 100-MW subsea cable business in Ulsan, while SK Hyper will oversee the development of gigawatt-scale AIDC projects." He added, "Since its establishment in July, SK Hyper has been securing sites and working to attract customers. In Ulsan, it has obtained building permits for some of the capacity and is discussing business terms with three to four global operators."

In its mobile network operator (MNO) business, SK Telecom said it would pursue qualitative growth in the fourth quarter by attracting high-value subscribers. Bae Byeongchan, head of SK Telecom's MNO Support Office, said, "We will maintain our qualitative growth strategy in the fourth quarter, consistently enhancing customer value and our fundamental competitiveness to continue the gradual recovery in MNO revenue."

The company also outlined its roadmap for adopting next-generation communications technologies, including 5G standalone (SA) and 6G. Lee Jonghun, who oversees network strategy at SK Telecom, said, "Commercialization validation for 5G SA has been completed, and we plan to launch it commercially in December. We are conducting research and validation on key 5G Advanced technologies, while 6G commercialization is expected after 2030."

SK Telecom also forecast that low Earth orbit satellite communications services, such as Starlink, would have a limited short-term impact on South Korea's telecommunications market. Park said, "Domestic mobile network operators already offer excellent network quality and service competitiveness based on nationwide 5G networks, so low Earth orbit satellite communications services will have a limited impact on the domestic mobile telecommunications market."

SK Telecom disclosed today that its consolidated operating profit for the third quarter of this year was provisionally estimated at 552.3 billion won. This was a 1,040.3% increase from the same period last year, with operating profit rising more than elevenfold. Revenue for the same period came to 4.4973 trillion won, up 13.1%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.