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Nokia EV-DO handsets....with Q inside R^)

SK TELETECH SIGNS INTERIM DEAL WITH NOKIA TO SUPPLY HANDSETS
Asia Pulse
SEOUL, March 30

SK Telecom Co. (KSE:017670), South Korea's top mobile carrier, said Wednesday its handset-making subsidiary has sealed a preliminary agreement to supply Nokia with handsets.

Under the deal, SK Teletech Co. will likely supply the world's No. 1 mobile phone maker with CDMA (code division multiple access) 2000 1X EV-DO (evolution data optimized) handsets on an original equipment manufacturing basis, SK Telecom said.

"Talks are currently under way to strike a formal accord," an SK Telecom official said. "It is expected to take a considerable time to seal the formal deal since both sides have yet to iron out differences."

It has not been determined how many mobile phones SK Teletech would provide for Nokia, he added.

SK Teletech has been ramping up efforts to tap into the global market. After garnering a CDMA license recently, the company has debuted its handsets in the Chinese market.

SK Telecom dominates the domestic mobile service market with about 18.8 million subscribers.

More than 75 per cent of South Korea's 48-million population own at least one cell phone. South Korea is also the world's most wired nation with 11 million broadband Internet subscribers.

(Yonhap)