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South Korea - Mobile Infrastructure, Broadband, Operators - Statistics and Analyses

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Last updated: 31 Mar 2020 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 49

Analyst: Sebastien De Rosbo

Synopsis

Mobile subscriber growth has been moderate in mobile market over the past five years. The market has been driven by organic growth from the three main mobile operators, together with the multitude of niche MVNOs. Mobile subscriber growth is expected to be relatively low over the next five years to 2023. Growth rates will taper off further over the next few years as the market further matures in a highly competitive market. The market will be driven by the uptake of both 4G and 5G services.

Auctions for sale of spectrum suitable for the planned deployment of 5G technology occurred in July 2018. All three incumbent mobile network operators acquired new frequencies.

South Korea’s three mobile operators, SK Telecom, LG Uplus and KT Corp have switched on their respective 5G networks for enterprise customers.

Telecom, KT Corp and LG Uplus have also launched commercial services to consumers. Initial coverage is reported to be heavily focused on Seoul and its surroundings.

KT’s industrial 5G development plans focus on five main areas in collaboration with private sector companies and the government to develop 5G services for both business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-government (B2G) sectors.

The mobile broadband subscriber base in South Korea has grown moderately over the past five years in a relatively mature market supported by widespread rollouts of 4G infrastructure. Slower growth is predicted over the next five years to 2023.

Key Developments

  • South Korea's three mobile operators switch on their respective 5G networks for enterprise customers,
  • Mobile subscriber growth is expected to be relatively low over the next five years to 2023.
  • KT's industrial 5G development plans focus on five main areas in collaboration with private sector companies and the government.
  • Report update includes the regulator’s market data to December 2019, operator statistics to Q4 2019.

Companies covered in this report include:

KT; LG U+; SK Telecom.

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