Samsung Electronics’ handset division was ranked No. 23 this year among world’s telecom brands in a report released by London-based brand evaluation consultancy Brand Finance on Wednesday.

In a report that announced the top 500 telecom brands around the world, SK Telecom, the country’s leading mobile carrier, was placed in 49th place, followed by KT Corp. at 55th.

LG Uplus entered the top 100 in 89th place, showing a sharp rise from 102nd in 2010.

The report also unveiled that the brand value and market capital of the handset division at Samsung was calculated to be $5.02 billion and $43.06 billion, respectively, and its brand rating was “AA+.” The highest brand rating for the top 500 firms, given only to U.K.-based Vodafone, was “AAA+.”

The market values of the country’s three telecoms ― in order of SKT, KT and LG Uplus ― were $2.65 billion, $2.4 billion and $906 million, according to the report.

All three telecoms received brand ratings of “AA.” SKT and KT had been given the same rating for last year, but LG Uplus ― noted as LG Telecom in the report ― moved up its rating from “AA-” to “AA” from a year ago.

Vodafone was evaluated as the company with the highest brand value for two consecutive years, which is worth over $30.62 billion. The unchanging second and third place went to U.S.-based AT&T and Verizon with brand values estimated to be $28.88 billion and $27.29 billion, respectively, according to the report.

China Mobile and Orange moved up a single step to reach fourth and fifth place and the handset division for Apple Inc. was placed at No. 15, with its brand value and rating being $6.92 billion and “AAA,” it said.

By Cho Ji-hyun(sharon@heraldcorp.com)