SingTel Enters the Metaverse with Destination:ifland
Singapore Telecommunications Limited will partner with South Korean telecommunications giant SK Telecom to host its first event in the Metaverse.
Big brands continue to enter the Metaverse, and this time, it is a telecommunications giant. On January 15th, SingTel announced its first event in the metaverse. Christened Destination:ifland, SingTel’s pioneer metaverse event, was organized in partnership with leading South Korean telecoms provider SK Telecom. The SingTel Comcentre in the heart of Singapore hosted Destination:ifland, and attendees participated in several activities and had the opportunity to design their custom virtual avatars to join events in the metaverse.
The Chief Executive Officer Consumer Singapore, SingTel, Anna Yip, commented on the partnership with SK Telecom and the company’s much-awaited entry into the metaverse. According to her, the internet is evolving into a creator economy and adopting immersive digital worlds as people seek alternative ways of interacting with products and services.
Continuing, Anna opined that the tilt towards the metaverse would not come cheaply, requiring high-speed network connectivity, networks with super-low latency, and high bandwidths. These technologies are essential to creating and hosting an immersive metaverse experience that several participants can experience hitch-free and support mixed reality hardware devices.
Why is SingTel Entering the Metaverse?
The partnership with SK Telecom will help SingTel showcase its 5G network and how it powers consumer engagement innovations in virtual worlds, streamlining product launches, events of all kinds, gaming experiences, etc. SK Telecoms’ ifland, first launched in July 2022, powered SingTel’s metaverse event. Since its launch in South Korea, the ifland platform has hosted several metaverse experiences, with brands and celebrities organizing celebrity meetups with fans, e-concerts, and other virtual events.
One of the notable activities that took place during Destination:ifland involved about 130 winners of a social media contest that SingTel organized. All the winners were allowed to access a virtual conference room where they met with Alec Benjamin, the American singer, and songwriter. Alec treated the participants to several songs all evening and, afterward, entertained real-time questions from fans. Also, the winners had a brief moment with Alec’s avatar, where they were allowed to take pictures with the digital avatar via a modified interactive photo booth.
Building a Future Shaped by the Metaverse
The partnership between the two telecom giants, Singtel and SKT, goes beyond Destination:ifland. Both companies will build digital twins of real locations and landmarks in Singapore, complete with avatars that resonate with each area’s local culture. Adding to the conversation, Yip confirmed the continuation of the partnership with SK Telecom, saying they would do more to develop additional use cases of the network and showcase its readiness to support metaverse infrastructure.
Destination:ifland was the first event of The Meta Guide, an all-encompassing series of digital experiences that SK Telecom and SingTel hope to announce soon. ifland is available on iOS and Android operating systems to be open to more users. SingTel, however, believes that engaging with ifland using a mixed reality headset will deliver the perfect experience.
With its 5G network, SingTel hopes the metaverse can disrupt processes across several industry verticals and help companies of all kinds perfect strategies before they are introduced to real-world operations.
