(image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Apr. 29 (Korea Bizwire) – The number of altteul (meaning thrifty in Korean) phone users has increased fourfold in the past year, owed to aggressive marketing campaigns and expanded rate plan options.
Korea Post (KP) revealed on April 28 that it totaled 197,733 subscribers in Q1, a 404 percent increase from 39,201 in Q1 2015.
According to KP, altteul phone users were able to save an average of 20,000 KRW on their monthly cell phone bills.
The Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) for subscribers of the Big Three providers was 36,458 won, while the ARPU for altteul phone users was 11,089 Won.
KP is launching new products and plans to celebrate ‘family month’ (May).
By subscribing to its Youth Plan, users can receive up to 4GB of data. KP also offers the Galaxy S6 Edge+ for 610,000, which, together with the 700MB plan, costs only 36,000 won per month.
It’s also adding a new feature where users can monitor their remaining balance of data, texts, and call minutes. They can also check their monthly fees in real-time. This service extends to 2.3 million other MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) users.
Users can access the new features by logging in to m.epost.kr.
KP is also offering a new Q&A service, which in turn will reduce traffic at customer call centers.
“By providing monthly balance information in real-time, users will be able to better mitigate unexpected billing surprises,” said a KP official.
By Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
