Moody's: Korea telecoms unchanged

Moody's Investors Service said the latest intervention by South Korea's telecom regulator - to unify online mobile-applications stores for smartphones - will have little near-term impact on the country's operators, principally SK Telecom, rated A2 with negative outlook; KT Corp., rated A3 with stable outlook; and LG Telecom, rated Baa3 with stable outlook.

The move by the Korea Communications Commission to create a unified "app" store to rival those of Apple and Google will fulfill its objective of encouraging a domestic alternative, Moody's said. The agency said it doesn't expect any dire consequences.

If the commission does succeeds in creating a viable alternative to Apple's offerings, however, these moves could hurt KT, the only licensed provider of iPhones in South Korea, the agency said.

This move follows the success of Apple's iPhone in Korea, Moody's said, and the recent move to allow imports of Apple's iPad.

South Korea's telecoms will still be able to run their own app stores offering their respective premium applications, so this will relegate the unified approach to selling less attractive alternatives, inferior to what's available at their individual online stores as well as those of the global behemoths, Apple and Google, the agency said.

The operators should suffer no near-term impact on credit profiles, apart from the cost of maintaining the unified store, Moody's said.

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