Singtel bolsters gaming and e-sports in Asia with new partnership

Singtel has partnered with South Korea's SK Telecom, in a bid to cooperate and leverage on both companies' assets and capabilities to grow gaming and e-sports in Asia. Through this collaboration, both companies will work together on developing and providing digital gaming content, solutions and services for gamers in the region.Singtel and SK Telecom will jointly utilise its platforms and channels to scale up regional e-sports events and leagues, as well as provide curated original and third party gaming content for their respective local portals. The partnership enables SK Telecom to extend the reach of its games business and increase the profile of its e-sports team in the markets Singtel operates in. This includes Singapore, Indonesia, Australia, India, Thailand and the Philippines.In addition, it also allows Singtel to draw on SK Telecom’s presence in gaming to broaden its audience and strengthen brand recognition in the region’s gaming community, specifically in Korea. SK Telecom operates its own game portal service since 2009, and has garnered over 35 million users on its site. It also has its own e-sports team.Arthur Lang, CEO of Singtel’s International Group, said that with the Singtel's local knowledge, telco assets and reach to over 675 million customers in the region, it has the synergies and opportunity to grow and develop the gaming ecosystem for gamers in Asia.“SK Telecom is synonymous with gaming and has been a leader in the industry since the beginning. They have a wealth of experience and one of the most recognisable esports teams and personalities in the world today. I am very excited about this partnership and looking forward to working together to delight the gaming community in the region," he added.Peter Ha, chief strategy officer of SK Telecom, said Singtel has a strong presence in Asia and has been strengthening its competitiveness in the gaming sector through initiatives such as the recent PVP eSports Championship."SK Telecom is South Korea’s largest telco with an abundance of experience, technology, and infrastructure in gaming distribution and operation. Together we will be able to provide gamers in Asia with quality content and services, giving gaming a boost in the region and pushing it further into the mainstream," he added.In July last year, Singtel Group launched the PVP eSports Championship, a multi-title and regional league, together with gaming hardware manufacturing company Razer. This is in a bid to grow its gaming and digital content business across its footprint in Asia Pacific, together with Optus and regional associates Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel.Under the agreement, the members of the Singtel Group will partner across the gaming space, including scaling up e-sports, content creation and distribution, and collaboration with the broader gaming ecosystem. As more than 200 million customers across the group play games on a regular basis, Singtel, Optus, Airtel, AIS, Globe and Telkomsel intend to collaborate to develop solutions and services for gamers and fans in the region. This includes access to high quality local, regional, and global e-sports competitions, as well as original content and exclusive programming.