SK Telecom and British semiconductor company ARM forged a partnership on the “Internet of Things” on Wednesday.

SK Telecom’s head of information communications technology division Choi Jin-sung met with Adam Gould, ARM’s vice president and a former CEO of Sensinode, for joint technology research, the company said in a statement.

The Internet of Things refers to technology that connects devices, people and space with wireless communications through information technologies such as sensors.

Both companies discussed SK Telecom’s IoT platform “Mobius,” network technologies and other related services.

The telecom operator launched the machine-to-machine platform in 2008 in the areas of distribution and vehicles, and ARM acquired an IoT-specialized company called Sensinode in August to initiate an MBED project, a signature platform it invented to connect peripheral things with smart devices.

In recent years, global ICT companies have shown growing interest in the IoT industry, which many experts say has high potential.

“SKT will lead technology innovation in the areas of IoT in partnership with ARM,” Choi said.

Gould also said, “We will contribute to securing a global standard platform through both companies’ communications infrastructure and IoT services.”

ARM recently fostered its partnership with Korean companies. Its chief marketing officer Ian Drew also visited SK’s Tech Planet in November. He met with SK Telecom and Samsung Electronics, according to an industry source.

By Shin Ji-hye (shinjh@heraldcorp.com)