The number of South Koreans using budget handsets operated by mobile virtual network operators
(MVNOs) surpassed the 4 million mark in September, the country’s ICT ministry said Tuesday, helped by the government’s efforts to provide users with reasonable service plans.
The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said the number of users with budget handsets came to 4.13 million at end-September, jumping from the 2.1 million posted a year earlier.
The figure accounts for 7.3 percent of the 56 million subscribers of mobile services in South Korea.
MVNOs refer to mobile service providers that rent networks from the country’s existing carriers. As they save on network operation costs, MVNOs usually provide users with plans cheaper than those of the major carriers.
South Korea currently has three mobile carriers: SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp.
“Since the launch of our ministry, users of budget handsets have continued to increase despite the saturation of mobile markets, rising 143,000 monthly on average,” the ministry said. The ICT ministry was launched in March 2013.
MVNOs that use networks of No. 1 SK Telecom held 1.96 million users or 47 percent, and those of KT and LG Uplus came to 1.85 million and 318,000, respectively, the ministry said.
By company, CJ HelloVision Co., an affiliate of CJ Group, topped the list by holding 786,916 users as of September, followed by SK Telink with 675,454 and Unicomz with 461,893.
Users of MVNO-carried phones preferred traditional networks over the long-term evolution (LTE), with handsets working on the third-generation (3G) network taking up 86 percent of the users, followed by the second-generation (2G) with 6.5 percent and LTE taking up only 7.5 percent.
Around 64 percent of South Korea’s handset users currently subscribe to the LTE network as a whole, followed by 3G with 24 percent and 2G with 12 percent, the data also showed
“When users of the existing three mobile carriers switch to budget handsets, they can save up to 41.3 percent in monthly costs,” the ministry said quoting research from the Korea Consumer Agency.
The ministry said it will continue its efforts to promote the services provided by MVNOs, adding 3G or LTE services, which are 50 percent lower than existing subscription plans, will be rolled out in the near future. (Yonhap)
