SK Telecom President Pyo Moon-soo and Hewlett-Packard Chairman Carly Fiorina signed a memorandum of understanding in Palo Alto on February 17 regarding the formation of a joint US$10 million fund. This, the first program of its kind involving a Korean company, will use the money to invest in and support prospective venture firms with technical expertise related to mobile payment, personalized multimedia, mobile user geographical positioning services. The effort is expected to help promote demand for wireless Internet services.

On the one hand, the joint fund will provide opportunities for SK Telecom and Hewlett-Packard to integrate new mobile technologies and share in the intellectual properties of the promising venture firms in which they invest. On the other hand, the venture companies that receive funding will get other benefits from SK Telecom and Hewlett-Packard. Technology will be jointly developed, tested and marketed.

SK Telecom anticipates that the joint funding program with HP will be a new source of vitality for struggling domestic venture companies. In the future, SK plans to tie up with world-leading service provides in a variety of ways in order to invest in other venture startups at home and abroad