LG Group's three telecom units to merge next year

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead, para 3 with date)
By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Oct. 15 (Yonhap) -- The board of directors from LG Group's three telecom
affiliates agreed Thursday to a merger of the companies next year, to better
compete with two local telecom powerhouses.
Boards from mobile carrier LG Telecom Ltd., fixed-line operator LG Dacom Corp.
and broadband Internet service provider LG Powercom Corp. voted to allow LG
Telecom to absorb the other two companies as of Jan. 1, 2010.
LG Group, one of South Korea's leading family-run conglomerates, plans to request
permission for the move from the South Korean telecommunication's regulator
Friday. Shareholders' meeting will be held in Nov. 27.
LG Telecom, the smallest mobile carrier in the market and currently controlled by
SK Telecom and KT Corp., announced the merger plan last week. It said such a move
would help secure more subscribers as it would allow the company to provide
fixed-line and mobile convergence services.
South Korea's telecom industry is keen to develop services that bundle up
fixed-line, wireless Internet, mobile and broadband access as companies compete
for more subscribers in the country's saturated market. Market watchers expect
the introduction of wireless-fidelity (Wi-Fi) mobile devices to further
accelerate the drive toward convergence services.
Once the merger goes through, the new LG Telecom is expected to become the third
South Korean telecom giant with annual revenues of more than 7.72 trillion won
(US$6.65 billion) and operating profits over 690 billion won.
ylee@yna.co.kr
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