S.Korea's LG Group plans to merge 3 telecom arms

SEOUL Oct 8 (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Group plans to go ahead with a long-considered merger of its three telecom units in the near future, to boost its consumer base and strengthen service offerings, LG Telecom (032640.KS) said on Thursday.

The companies -- mobile carrier LG Telecom, fixed-line operator LG Dacom 015940.KS and broadband firm LG Powercom 045820.KS -- may hold board meetings soon, LG Telecom said in a statement.

A merger is seen as necessary for LG to compete with bigger telecom rivals KT Corp (030200.KS) and SK Telecom (017670.KS), as operators in the saturated Korean market focus on locking in customers through products bundling mobile, fixed-line and Internet services.

KT absorbed its mobile unit KTF earlier this year while SK Telecom also controls broadband affiliate SK Broadband (033630.KQ).

LG Telecom, the biggest of the three companies, could absorb the other two given its bigger scale, LG Telecom said. (Reporting by Rhee So-eui; Editing by Chris Lewis)