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Press Release
SK Telecom Inaugurates New ?Mobile Coin? Service
Mobile service to allow buying sodas and cigarettes from vending machines
Opening the era of true Mobile Commerce
?You are thirsty and found a vending machine. But you are out of coins. You scramble to get a dollar bill out of our pocket but it won?t feed into the machine because it is all crimpled! What do you do? Shouldn?t there be a better way to get a soda??
SK Telecom (www.sktelecom.com) announced the introduction of a new ?Mobile Coin? service that allows users to make a purchase by making a phone call using their Speed 011 mobile phone service starting this November.
SK Telecom plans to stage a joint marketing effort with MGate Inc. (www.mgateinc.com), a wireless Internet service provider, under a brand name ?Mobile Coin.? SK Telecom and MGate signed an agreement for a strategic alliance on 17th following a 6 months joint R&D period.
?Mobile Coin? enables Speed 011 users to connect to the mobile phone preinstalled in the vending machine and make a purchase. The phone is used to remote-manage the machine by alerting the owners when the machine is out of order or the stock is low.
Speed 011 users who wish to use the service must call the number assigned to each vending machine that starts with 011 to connect and select the item they wish to purchase from the menu that appears on the machine. The details of the purchase are transmitted to the automatic billing system real-time and added to the next month?s phone bill.
There is no separate registration procedures or basic monthly charges, and any individual Speed 011 user can start using the service as soon as the service becomes available. Each usage of the service adds a charge for one phone call plus the amount of purchase.
In particular, unlike the existing vending machine that allows only small-amount purchases, ?Mobile Coin? service enables larger amount transactions. As a result the types of products available from vending machines that are currently limited to cigarettes, sodas and noodles, are expected to be expanded allowing new business opportunities. In addition, the feature of the new service that alerts the owners of low stock and machine breakage will help significantly reduce the maintenance costs, introducing a new trend in the vending machine business.
Joondong Bae, head of the SK Telecom Business Marketing Division, said, ?With our new ?Mobile Coin? service, people can use the vending machines anytime under any circumstances as long as they have their cell phones with them. We believe that the new service will provide a necessary spur for the stagnant vending machine market.? He also said, ?We expect that Mobile Coin service will be an innovative force that will usher in the era of true Mobile Commerce along with our home automation services and Internet small amount settlement services that are already being commercially available.?
SK Telecom (www.sktelecom.com) announced the introduction of a new ?Mobile Coin? service that allows users to make a purchase by making a phone call using their Speed 011 mobile phone service starting this November.
SK Telecom plans to stage a joint marketing effort with MGate Inc. (www.mgateinc.com), a wireless Internet service provider, under a brand name ?Mobile Coin.? SK Telecom and MGate signed an agreement for a strategic alliance on 17th following a 6 months joint R&D period.
?Mobile Coin? enables Speed 011 users to connect to the mobile phone preinstalled in the vending machine and make a purchase. The phone is used to remote-manage the machine by alerting the owners when the machine is out of order or the stock is low.
Speed 011 users who wish to use the service must call the number assigned to each vending machine that starts with 011 to connect and select the item they wish to purchase from the menu that appears on the machine. The details of the purchase are transmitted to the automatic billing system real-time and added to the next month?s phone bill.
There is no separate registration procedures or basic monthly charges, and any individual Speed 011 user can start using the service as soon as the service becomes available. Each usage of the service adds a charge for one phone call plus the amount of purchase.
In particular, unlike the existing vending machine that allows only small-amount purchases, ?Mobile Coin? service enables larger amount transactions. As a result the types of products available from vending machines that are currently limited to cigarettes, sodas and noodles, are expected to be expanded allowing new business opportunities. In addition, the feature of the new service that alerts the owners of low stock and machine breakage will help significantly reduce the maintenance costs, introducing a new trend in the vending machine business.
Joondong Bae, head of the SK Telecom Business Marketing Division, said, ?With our new ?Mobile Coin? service, people can use the vending machines anytime under any circumstances as long as they have their cell phones with them. We believe that the new service will provide a necessary spur for the stagnant vending machine market.? He also said, ?We expect that Mobile Coin service will be an innovative force that will usher in the era of true Mobile Commerce along with our home automation services and Internet small amount settlement services that are already being commercially available.?