SK Telecom launches B2B mobile healthcare service

SK Telecom has launched a mobile health management service targeted at corporate customers, as the South Korean carrier aims to diversify its business.

The Health-On service is a personalized health management service that analyzes a user's health condition through a smartphone app, launched by Health Connect, the joint venture between SK Telecom and Seoul National University Hospital, Yonhap News Agency reported Wednesday.

The mobile app works with an activity tracker device which can be worn on the wrist or clipped to a belt, analyzing a person's lifestyle patterns such as calorie intake and level of physical activity. The information is also used to provide appropriate wage management or weight loss goals as well as exercise plans, the report said.

Users can also get consultations at the university hospital, it added.

The service will initially be targeted at corporate clients, said SK Telecom, adding its own staff has been offered the service.

The service is expected to be available for individual consumers in second half of this year. According to a company spokesperson, SK Telecom may also work with overseas partners to expand the healthcare service to overseas customers, but no details have been confirmed yet.

The launch of Health-On is part of SK Telecom's efforts to diversify its business portfolio and grow new profit sources in a saturated mobile market.

The company has identified healthcare to be a potential growth engine, and last September bought a 49 percent stake in a Chinese medical equipment maker Xian Tianlong Science and Technology.

The Yonhap report also noted that another local telco, KT Corp has partnered with the medical department of Yonsei University to tap the healthcare industry.