LG Uplus Corp., South Korea‘s No. 3 mobile carrier, on Dec. 15 said that it plans to invest 2.6 trillion won (US$2.2 billion) over the next five years to offer upgraded services after the country’s science ministry approved its acquisition of the country‘s top cable TV operator.

The Ministry of Science and ICT approved the telecom operator’s acquisition of a 50 percent-plus-one-share stake in CJ Hello Co. from CJ ENM Co., a deal valued at 800 billion won.

The acquisition will make LG Uplus the No. 2 player in the local paid TV market, with a 24.81 percent share, behind its bigger rival KT Corp.

The mobile carrier last month received the green light on the deal from South Korea‘s antitrust watchdog, the Fair Trade Commission.

This file photo taken Feb. 14, 2019, shows LG Uplus Corp.’s logo at its headquarters building in Seoul. (Yonhap)

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LG Uplus said the planned investment will be focused on upgrading broadcasting content and developing technologies that can maximize network infrastructure between the two companies.

Separately, CJ Hello, which will change its name to LG Hello Vision Corp. after its shareholders meeting on Dec. 24, will spend 620 billion won over the next five years to upgrade the quality of its cable service.

LG Uplus said it plans to develop virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) content for cable TV and help CJ Hello to expand its service coverage.

By Park Ga-young and newswires (gypark@heraldcorp.com)