SKT's 'V Coloring' Expands to All Three Carriers... LG Uplus Joins In

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] SK Telecom’s ‘Visible Coloring (V Coloring)’ service, developed by the company, will be expanded to LG Uplus following KT, allowing users to access the service regardless of their telecom provider.

On the 26th, SK Telecom announced that it will launch a joint V Coloring service with KT and LG Uplus starting from the 27th. V Coloring is a ‘visible coloring’ service that shows a short and concise ‘short-form’ video set by the customer to the caller’s (originator’s) mobile phone until the call is connected to the recipient. It is an evolved service from the traditional ‘call connection tone,’ which provides specific music or sounds when a call is connected, by showing short video content instead. Users can utilize the latest music videos, popular videos, as well as videos they have personally recorded.

Since SK Telecom first introduced V Coloring in September last year, the service expanded to KT in January, and now LG Uplus customers can also use it, enabling the service to be used regardless of the telecom company. As of May, there are approximately 1.5 million V Coloring subscribers, and current users can access about 4,000 types of paid and free videos. The number of contents is expected to increase rapidly through the supply of original content produced by the three telecom companies in the future.

This service is considered unusual in that KT and LG Uplus did not create separate solutions to directly compete with SK Telecom’s solution but instead integrated SK Telecom’s service as is. The three telecom companies explained that they introduced the V Coloring service to enhance customer convenience through inter-carrier cooperation. Previously, due to the system where the call recipient pays the fee, meaningful service was only possible when all three carriers were connected, but some telecom companies did not support the service, leading to criticism that it was a half-baked service.

Starting from the 27th, LG Uplus customers can install the dedicated V Coloring app, subscribe to the service, and use it. Samsung Galaxy Note20, S20, and S21 users will be able to see V Coloring videos when making calls through device updates, and the supported devices will gradually expand. Both 5G and LTE subscribers can join, and the app is available for download from One Store and Google Play Store. The monthly fee is 3,300 KRW.

In the future, promotions that were previously only available on each telecom company’s channel will be conducted through V Coloring’s dedicated SNS channels without distinction of telecom providers, enabling real-time communication with customers. The three telecom companies plan to offer various promotions that customers can directly participate in, starting with the ‘V Coloring Challenge with TikTok’ in July. They also plan to expand the production and exclusive supply of content featuring famous celebrities that can only be seen on V Coloring through sharing popular content owned by each company and joint marketing, aiming to provide high-quality services regardless of telecom providers.

Currently, the V Coloring app offers over 4,000 types of content, including idols, popular celebrities, and creators. Through cooperation with the domestic mobile broadcasting station Dingo, it plans to provide singing videos of famous artists such as Ailee, and continuously release content from popular creators affiliated with Sandbox Network, including Pissik University. Additionally, exclusive V Coloring content of the sensational group Oh My Girl, who recently dominated major music charts with their new song ‘DUN DUN DANCE,’ has been released and is popular. Furthermore, ESG campaign content such as ‘social distancing’ videos to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ‘Jupgging (picking up + jogging)’ content delivering environmental protection messages will continue to be introduced.

Sojeong Choi, head of subscription media at SK Telecom, stated, “We will continue to discover content types preferred by customers through data analysis and, through cooperation among the three companies, strive to become a subscription video service that provides more fun and enjoyment and is loved by customers.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.