During 2022, SK Telecom recorded a net addition of 3.5 million 5G customers
SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest telecom operator, ended the first quarter of the year with a total of 14.14 million subscribers in the 5G segment, up 5.6% from 13.4 million in the previous quarter, the carrier said in its earnings statement.
During 2022, SK Telecom recorded a net addition of 3.5 million 5G customers.
At the end of the first quarter, the operator’s 5G subscribers accounted for 61% of its overall handset subscribers, up from 58% at the end of December 2022.
In the LTE segment, SK Telecom ended March with 15.75 million, down from 16.36 million in the previous quarter.
The Korean carrier ended Q1 2023 with a total of 33 million mobile subscribers, up 3.5% year-on-year.
In Q1, the telco’s net profit grew 37.3% year-on-year to KRW302.5 billion ($228.4 million), while its revenue rose 2.2% year-on-year to KRW4.37 trillion.
Mobile service revenue increased 1.5% to KRW3.1 trillion due to a recovery in roaming and 5G subscriber growth. Media sales grew 10.2% to KRW393.2 billion and enterprise sales climbed 5.8% year-on-year to KRW386.2 billion.
Mobile ARPU remained at KRW30,101, SK Telekom said.
Earlier this week, South Korea’s ICT ministry canceled a license owned SK Telecom to offer 5G services via 28 GHz spectrum, citing a lack of investment.
SK Telecom had been given the right to use the 28 GHz band in 2018 and was required to install a total of 15,000 units of network equipment by May this year. However, SK Telecom had only installed only 1,650 units of 28 GHz equipment as of last week and had no plans for further installations, according to the Ministry of Science and ICT.
In November of last year, the telco’s CEO Ryu Young-sang said that SK Telecom aims to become an artificial intelligence (AI) company.
Ryu stressed that SK Telecom will shape itself into an AI company by combining AI with a wide range of connectivity technologies.
To achieve the new vision, the carrier unveiled the following three strategies designed to innovate its five business groups. Last year, the company rearranged its business into five different groups, namely fixed and mobile telecommunications, media, enterprise, AIVERSE (AI+Universe), and connected intelligence.
Firstly, the carrier said it will redefine its core businesses with AI. By achieving AI transformation of its fixed and mobile telecommunications, media and enterprise businesses, the company said it aims to create new opportunities and growth drivers.
SK Telecom said it will improve the overall process to enable customers to search, subscribe to and use fixed and mobile telecommunications services with greater convenience and ease by applying AI to this entire process.
In the media business, the company said it will integrate its media-related assets that are scattered across diverse media services like IPTV and T Commerce to strengthen its content power. It will also combine AI technology to these assets to offer personalized content to customers.
In enterprise business, it will facilitate AI transformation of its enterprise customers through the six main business areas – namely data center, private network, IoT, cloud, big data and AI.
Secondly, SK Telecom will strengthen customer relationships by applying new technologies and content to AI-based services like ‘A.,’ ‘ifland’ and ‘T Universe.’
Thirdly, SK Telecom said it will invest in or acquire companies that can create greater synergies when combined with its AI technologies.
