(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Oct. 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of people newly subscribing to the country’s three mobile operators after quitting low-cost mobile carriers exceeded 490,000 this year, industry data showed Tuesday.
According to the data by the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA), a total of 494,345 people left plans provided by budget carriers and switched to SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. between January and September of this year, up 6.2 percent on-year from the same period a year earlier.
The budget mobile carriers called “thrift phone operators” refer to mobile virtual network operators that rent networks from SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. to provide cheaper services.
In contrast, a total of 442,282 people moved from the three carriers to the budget mobile carriers during the cited period, down 18.7 percent from the same period a year earlier.
The KTOA said the three mobile carriers have begun providing rate plans that offer an unrestricted amount of data at lower cost to attract more customers. The average price for the limitless data plan stands at about 60,000 won (US$53) per month.
(Yonhap)
