South Korea - Telecoms Infrastructure, Operators, Regulations - Statistics and Analyses

Synopsis

South Korea has transformed its economy to one that is more progressively knowledge based. It has invested significantly in telecommunications infrastructure over past decades.

South Korea is ranked 1st out of 34 with an Asian Telecoms Maturity Index score of 92. (BuddeComm’s “Asian Telecoms Maturity Index”, is an index (on a scale between 0 and 100) that measures and ranks the relative maturity of the telecoms industry in all of the 34 countries in Asia.) Compared to other Asian nations, South Korea has an extremely high mobile and mobile broadband penetration and very high fixed broadband penetration.

Fixed lines in South Korea have been gradually declining over the past five years. This trend is predicted to continue over the next five years to 2023.

South Korea has one of the world’s most active telecommunications and Information Technology (IT) markets backed by strong support from the government. As well as the commitment of the government, the sector is boosted by an innovative private sector and a technologically savvy population. Spending on ICT and high-technology equipment helped lead a transformation of the economy. The government aims to transform the country into a knowledge-based information society in a ‘smart-age’.

Huawei has partnered with LG U+. for the launch of Seoul TechCity as part of its commitment to drive smart city efforts. The Seoul TechCity collaborative project aims to deliver smart city capabilities for the Korean capital.

This report provides an overview of the South Korean telecoms market, including key statistics and infrastructure investments.

Key Developments:

SK Telecom became the first South Korean mobile operator to test autonomous cars on public roads.
Huawei has partnered with LG U+. for the launch of Seoul TechCity.
Fixed lines in South Korea have been gradually declining over the past five years.

Companies covered in this report include:

KT; LG U+; SK Broadband; SK Telecom

Table of Contents

1. Synopsis
2. Key statistics
3. Country overview
- 3.1 Background
- 3.2 South Korea’s economy
4. Telecommunications market
- 4.1 Market Overview and Analysis
- 4.2 Regional Asian Market Comparison
- 4.3 Background
5. Regulatory environment
- 5.1 Regulatory authority
  - 5.1.1 KCC – Overview and responsibilities
  - 5.1.2 KCC – related laws
6. Fixed network operators
- 6.1 Overview
- 6.2 KT Corp
- 6.3 LG U+
7. Telecommunications infrastructure
- 7.1 Overview of the national telecom network
  - 7.1.1 Internet eXchange (IX)
  - 7.1.2 National submarine cable infrastructure
- 7.2 International infrastructure
  - 7.2.1 International submarine cable infrastructure
- 7.3 Smart infrastructure
  - 7.3.1 IoT
  - 7.3.2 Smart grids
  - 7.3.3 Smart cities
  - 7.3.4 Connected / Smart homes
  - 7.3.5 Driverless Cars
8. Related reports

Table 1 – Country Statistics, Major Operators and Telco Authorities – 2018 (e)
Table 2 – Top Level Country Statistics – 2018 (e)
Table 3 – KT Corp - Total fixed Voice - PSTN and VoIP lines subscribers – 1991 – 2018
Table 4 – KT Corp’s fixed-line subscribers (PSTN) (millions) – 2004 – 2018
Table 5 – KT Corp’s VoIP subscribers – 2008 – 2018
Table 6 – LG U+ fixed-line (PSTN and VoIP) subscribers – 2005 – 2018
Table 7 – Fixed Line Subscriptions and Penetration – 2007 – 2018
Table 8 – Historic - Fixed lines in service and penetration – 1991 – 2007
Table 9 – International bandwidth – 1997 – 2017
Table 10 – Smart grid investments

Chart 1 – Mobile, Mobile Broadband & Fixed Broadband Penetration – 2018; 2023
Chart 2 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index by Market Category
Chart 3 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index – Northern Asia
Chart 4 – Asian Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per Capita
Chart 5 – Fixed Broadband vs Mobile Penetration - Northern Asia (selected countries)
Chart 6 – Fixed Line Subscriptions and Penetration – 2007 – 2018