SK Telecom (NYSE: SKM) today announced that it has been named Asia’s best mobile carrier for two consecutive years at the Telecom Asia Awards held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The prestigious industry award recognized SK Telecom for its efforts and achievements in the field of LTE. Since launching Korea’s first LTE service in July 2011, the company has been leading the LTE market through development of cutting-edge LTE technologies and provision of convenience-enhancing services for customers. Its LTE subscriber base is growing at the highest rate in the world, exceeding 10 million as of April 2013. The proportion of LTE subscribers among the company’s total mobile subscriber base is around 37 percent, the highest in the world. As the long-standing leader in the Korean mobile market, SK Telecom currently takes up around 50% of the LTE market in Korea. Going forward, based on its strong relationship with device manufacturers, the company plans to open LTE-A service in September 2013 through the commercialization of Carrier Aggregation (CA) technology.

The company’s efforts are being increasingly recognized by international organizations and mobile operators across the world: SK Telecom won the ’GSMA Chairman’s Award’ and ’Outstanding LTE Contribution Award’ at this year’s Mobile World Congress held in February.

In its 16th year, the annual Telecom Asia Awards and Conference is the region’s longest-running and most prestigious telecom industry awards and event. Selected from more than 100 fixed, mobile and convergence telecom operators from around the region, the winners were judged on their innovative and outstanding performance by a panel of 24 independent judges.

"SK Telecom impressed the judges not only with its successful LTE rollout, but also its innovation on the Value-Added Service front. Also, its creation of an innovative digital unit has helped it develop new growth drivers and realize synergies in Big Data, digital content and commerce, both inside and outside its home base of South Korea." said John Tanner, Telecom Asia global technology editor.

Yoon Yong-chul, Senior Vice President and Head of Public Relations Office at SK Telecom said, "SK Telecom is proud to receive the ’Best Mobile Carrier’ award for two consecutive years. SK Telecom will lead not only the local but also the global mobile industry by continuing to provide the best telecommunications experiences to its customers."