South Korea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband

Description

South Korea calls a halt to additional 5G spectrum auctions while usage balloons

With South Korea's mobile population switching over to 5G at breakneck speed, the government has put a sudden halt on expanding the amount of spectrum available for 5G use. This follows complaints from the country's two largest MNOs, SK Telecom and KT Corp, that the planned auction would unfairly benefit rival LG U+ because the additional spectrum (in the 3.4-3.42GHz range) was too close to that operator's current 5G frequency holding. The objectors argued (successfully) that the frequency allocation would be cheaper for LG U+ to implement alongside its existing allotment, and thus give LG U+ more legroom to up its bid for the spectrum.

Pressure for more 5G-suitable spectrum is, nonetheless, going to continue to increase since the MNOs and MVNOs have been spectacularly successful in getting their customers to upgrade to 5G-capable handsets. Early adopters have followed along enthusiastically, using twice as much data on 5G networks in the first few months of 2022 compared to 4G, even though 4G connections are more than double that of 5G.

Commercial realities may soon set in for all of the operators, reinstating demands for the regulator to respond with additional spectrum options while providing a more level playing field.

1 Key statistics

2 Regional Asia market comparison

2.1 Market characteristics
2.2 Market Leaders
2.3 Market Challengers
2.4 Market Emergents
2.5 TMI vs GDP
2.6 Mobile and mobile broadband penetration
2.7 Fixed versus mobile broadband penetration

3 Country overview

4 Telecommunications market

5 Regulatory environment

5.1 Regulatory authority
5.2 Mobile network developments

6 Mobile market

6.1 Mobile infrastructure
6.2 Major mobile operators

7 Fixed-line broadband market

7.1 Fixed-line broadband technologies
7.2 Fixed broadband operators

8 Fixed network market

8.1 Major network operators

9 Telecommunications infrastructure

9.1 National telecom network
9.2 International infrastructure
9.3 Smart infrastructure

10 Appendix Historic data

11 Glossary of abbreviations

12 Related reports

Table 1 Top Level Country Statistics and Telco Authorities South Korea 2022 (e)
Table 2 Change in the number of mobile number portings 2012 2021
Table 3 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Table 4 Change in the number of subscribers by platform (million) 2012 2022
Table 5 Growth in the number of 5G subscribers by operator (million) 2019 2022
Table 6 Change in the number of LTE subscribers by operator (million) 2016 2022
Table 7 Change in the number of 3G subscribers by operator (million) 2017 2022
Table 8 Change in the number of 2G subscribers by operator 2017 2022
Table 9 Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Table 10 Mobile broadband subscribers by operator (million) 2017 2022
Table 11 Change in mobile data traffic by platform (TB) 2015 2022
Table 12 Change in the number of mobile subscribers by operator (million) 2012 2021
Table 13 Change in mobile market share by operator 2012 2021
Table 14 Development of mobile service ARPU per month by operator (KRW / month) 2012 2021
Table 15 Change in the number of SK Telecom's mobile subscribers by platform (million) 2012 2021
Table 16 Development of SK Telecom's mobile service revenue 2012 2021
Table 17 Development of KT Corp's mobile subscribers by platform (million) 2012 2021
Table 18 Development of KT Corp's mobile service revenue (KRW billion) 2012 2021
Table 19 Change in the number of LG U+ mobile subscribers (million) 2012 2021
Table 20 Change in the number of MVNO subscribers by operator (million) 2012 2021
Table 21 Change in the number of MVNO subscribers by technology 2017 2022
Table 22 Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Table 23 Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by platform (million) 2012 2022
Table 24 Change in the market share of broadband subscribers by operator 2012 2022
Table 25 Change in the number of KTs broadband subscribers 2012 2021
Table 26 Change in the number of LG U+s broadband subscribers 2012 2022
Table 27 Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity 2012 2027
Table 28 Change in the number of fixed-wired and VoIP lines (million) 2016 2022
Table 29 Decline in the number of KT Corp's fixed voice lines 2012 2021
Table 30 Development of KT Corp's financial data (KRW billion) 2012 2021
Table 31 Change in the number of LG U+'s fixed-line subscribers (thousand) 2012 2022
Table 32 Development of LG U+'s financial data (KRW billion) 2012 2021
Table 33 Historic - Mobile subscribers 1996 2011
Table 34 Historic - CDMA mobile subscribers by operator (million) 2002 2011
Table 35 Historic - mobile market share by operator 2002 2011
Table 36 Historic - Mobile subscribers by operator (million) 2002 2011
Table 37 Historic - Mobile Service ARPU per month by operator (KRW / month) 2002 2011
Table 38 Historic - KT Corp's mobile subscribers by type (million) 2004 2011
Table 39 Historic - SK Telecom mobile subscribers by type (million) 2002 2011
Table 40 Historic - LG U+ mobile subscribers 2003 2011
Table 41 Historic - Fixed broadband subscriber growth and penetration rate 1999 2011
Table 42 Historic - Fixed lines in service and penetration 1991 2011
Table 43 Historic - South Korea VoIP subscribers 2006 2011
Table 44 Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers by platform (million) 1998 2011
Table 45 Historic - Fixed broadband subscribers by operator (million) 2005 2011
Table 46 Historic - Broadband market share by operator 2005 2011
Table 47 Historic - LG U+ broadband subscribers 2004 2011
Table 48 Historic - KT Corp - Fixed Voice - PSTN and VoIP lines subscribers 1991 2011
Table 49 Historic - KT Corp PSTN lines 2003 2011
Table 50 Historic - KT Corp VoIP subscribers 2008 2011
Table 51 Historic - LG U+ fixed-line (PSTN and VoIP) subscribers 2005 2011
Table 52 Historic - International bandwidth 1997 2011
Chart 1 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index Market Leaders
Chart 2 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index Market Challengers
Chart 3 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index Market Emergents
Chart 4 Asia Telecoms Maturity Index vs GDP per capita
Chart 5 Asia Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 6 Northern Asia Mobile subscriber penetration vs mobile broadband penetration
Chart 7 Northern Asia Fixed and mobile broadband penetration
Chart 8 Change in the number of mobile number portings 2012 2021
Chart 9 Growth in the number of mobile subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Chart 10 Change in the number of subscribers by platform 2012 2022
Chart 11 Growth in the number of 5G subscribers by operator 2019 2022
Chart 12 Change in the number of LTE subscribers by operator 2016 2022
Chart 13 Change in the number of 3G subscribers by operator 2017 2022
Chart 14 Change in the number of 2G subscribers by operator 2017 2022
Chart 15 Growth in the number of mobile broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Chart 16 Mobile broadband subscribers by operator 2017 2022
Chart 17 Change in the number of mobile subscribers by operator 2012 2021
Chart 18 Change in mobile market share by operator 2012 2021
Chart 19 Development of mobile service ARPU per month by operator 2012 2021
Chart 20 Change in the number of SK Telecom's mobile subscribers by platform 2012 2021
Chart 21 Development of SK Telecom's mobile service revenue 2012 2021
Chart 22 Development of KT Corp's mobile subscribers by platform 2012 2021
Chart 23 Development of KT Corp's mobile service revenue 2012 2021
Chart 24 Change in the number of LG U+ mobile subscribers 2012 2021
Chart 25 Change in the number of MVNO subscribers by operator 2012 2021
Chart 26 Change in the number of MVNO subscribers by technology 2017 2022
Chart 27 Growth in the number of fixed broadband subscribers and penetration 2012 2027
Chart 28 Change in the number of fixed broadband subscribers by platform 2012 2022
Chart 29 Change in the market share of broadband subscribers by operator 2012 2022
Chart 30 Change in the number of KTs broadband subscribers 2012 2021
Chart 31 Change in the number of LG U+s broadband subscribers 2012 2022
Chart 32 Decline in the number of fixed lines in service and teledensity 2012 2027
Chart 33 Change in the number of fixed-wired and VoIP lines 2016 2022
Chart 34 Decline in the number of KT Corp's fixed voice lines 2012 2021
Chart 35 Development of KT Corp's financial data 2012 2021
Chart 36 Change in the number of LG U+'s fixed-line subscribers 2012 2022
Chart 37 Development of LG U+'s financial data 2012 2021
Exhibit 1 Map of Telecom Maturity Index global ranking among countries in Asia
Exhibit 2 Generalised Market Characteristics by Market Segment
Exhibit 3 Asia Market Leaders and market developments
Exhibit 4 Asia Market Challengers and market developments
Exhibit 5 Asia Market Emergents and market developments
Exhibit 6 Map of South Korea
Exhibit 7 Significant telcos in South Korea and their offers
Exhibit 8 5G spectrum auction results July 2018
Exhibit 9 Comparison of WiBro and mobile technologies in South Korea
Exhibit 10 National submarine fibre optic cables overview in South Korea
Exhibit 11 International submarine fibre optic cables overview in South Korea
Exhibit 12 Interconnection status by IX

South Korea - Telecoms, Mobile and Broadband - Statistics and Analyses