SK Telecom added nearly 400,000 5G subscribers during Q3
SK Telecom, South Korea’s largest telecom operator, ended the third quarter of the year with a total of 15.15 million subscribers in the 5G segment, up 21.5% from 12.5 million in the same period the previous year, the carrier said in its earnings statement.
During the third quarter of the year, the Korean operator added nearly 400,000 5G subscribers. At the end of Q3, the operator’s 5G subscribers accounted for 66% of its overall handset subscribers, up from 53% at the end of September 2022.
In the LTE segment, SK Telecom ended the period with 15.45 million subscribers, down 2.7% from 15.87 million in the previous quarter.
The Korean carrier ended the quarter with a total of 33.65 million mobile subscribers, up 3.5% year-on-year.
In Q3, SK Telecom’s net profit grew 25.5% year-on-year to KRW308 billion ($234 million), while its revenue rose 1.4% year-on-year to KRW4.40 trillion.
Mobile ARPU reached KRW 29,913 in Q3, up 2.3% year-on-year, SK Telekom said.
Earlier this year, South Korea’s ICT ministry canceled a license owned by SK Telecom which had been meant to support 5G services via 28 GHz spectrum, citing a lack of deployment investment by the operator.
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 September 2023, SK Telecom announced its vision to become a global AI company and unveiled the AI Pyramid Strategy, under which it will strengthen its own competitiveness to deepen customer relationships while working together with partners throughout the world. The AI Pyramid Strategy focuses on innovating industry, society, and life centered around three key areas including AI Infrastructure, AI Transformation (AIX) and AI Service.
“In the area of AI Infrastructure, SK Telecom plans to secure and enhance infrastructure capabilities that serve as the foundation of an AI company, such as AI data centers, AI semiconductors, and multi-large language models (LLMs). AIX aims to innovate existing fixed and mobile telecommunications, media, and enterprise businesses through AI, and expand the application of AI to UAM and healthcare. Lastly, in the area of AI Service, SK Telecom plans to forge closer relationships with customers through a highly competent personal AI assistant and expand its scale by collaborating with global telecommunications companies,” the Korean telco said.
“Going forward, based on its knowhow in operating various AI services, SK Telecom plans to expand its presence in the AI service market by simultaneously entering overseas markets in cooperation with members of the Global AI Telco Alliance,” the carrier added.
