SK Telecom: not in deal talks with Virgin Mobile

SEOUL (Reuters) - SK Telecom Co (017670.KS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), South Korea's top mobile carrier, said on Tuesday it is not in talks for a specific deal with Virgin Mobile USA (VM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), downplaying speculation about a possible acquisition of the U.S. operator.

A source familiar with the matter said on Friday SK and Virgin Mobile USA are having preliminary talks on a deal. Recent blog reports have said talks have included scenarios such as SK Telecom buying Virgin Mobile USA and combining it with Helio, SK's own U.S. mobile service.

"We are considering various scenarios and tapping opportunities," said Mina Ryu, an SK spokeswoman. "But there is no specific negotiation going on."

Although SK is meeting other operators to discuss businesses, "What is going on is too early to call a negotiation," Ryu said.

"We are not ruling out any company and we have not set any specific target."

SK Telecom is looking to overseas markets such as China and the United States as expansion becomes more difficult at home where more than 90 percent of Koreans have a mobile phone.

In November last year, SK Telecom said it had approached Sprint Nextel Corp (S.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) with several cooperation measures. Sources said Sprint Nextel had rejected a $5 billion investment by a group including SK.

Richard Branson's Virgin, which has been suffering from customer defections amid the U.S. economic slowdown, focuses on prepaid services where customers pay for calls in advance. It faces increased competition from big rivals such as AT&T Inc (T.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Verizon Wireless.

Helio, which is roughly 69 percent owned by SK and 28 percent owned by EarthLink Inc (ELNK.O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), targets tech-savvy consumers with sophisticated devices and data services such as mobile Web surfing.

(Reporting by Rhee So-eui, editing by Marie-France Han and Keiron Henderson)