The logos of South Korea’s three major carriers — KT Corp. (L), SK Telecom Co. (C) and LG Uplus Corp. (R) — are shown in this file photo taken July 8, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — Nearly 30 percent of South Korea’s mobile subscriptions were on 5G networks last year, data showed Thursday, as new smartphone launches boosted user growth in the latest generation networks.
The total number of 5G users reached 20.92 million as of end-December last year, accounting for 28.7 percent of the country’s total 72.86 million mobile network subscriptions, according to the data from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
South Korea, which has a population of 52 million, first commercialized 5G networks in April 2019 and has so far secured 5G coverage across its 85 cities.
The latest figure marks an increase from 20.19 million 5G subscriptions in November as new smartphone launches in the country, including Apple Inc.’s new iPhone 13 series in October, helped boost user growth.
SK Telecom Co., the country’s largest mobile carrier by subscriptions, had the most 5G users at 9.87 million, followed by KT Corp. at 6.37 million and LG Uplus Corp. at 4.61 million, the data showed.
The number of mobile users subscribed to 4G networks in South Korea fell to 48.29 million in December, accounting for around 66 percent of mobile subscriptions.
(Yonhap)
