S. Korea's 5G subscribers top 7 million in June: data

All News 09:54 August 10, 2020

SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- The number of subscribers to 5G mobile networks topped 7 million in June, after the country began to offer the fastest mobile service in April last year, data showed on Monday.

The country had 7.37 million 5G users as of June, up 493,101 from the previous month, according to data compiled by the Ministry of Science and ICT.

The latest figure accounts for over 10 percent of the country's 69.6 million mobile subscriptions in total.

The number of 5G subscriptions is expected to rise later this year, considering launches of new phones that will use the network, including Samsung Electronics Co.'s Galaxy Note 20 and Apple Inc.'s iPhone.

A 5G phone is shown at KT Corp.'s headquarter building in central Seoul, in this file photo taken on June 8, 2020. The country's 5G subscribers accounted for over 10 percent of total mobile subscribers in June. (Yonhap)

The 4G network remained the most popular, holding 55 million subscriptions and representing roughly 80 percent of total mobile accounts.

SK Telecom Co. had the most 5G subscribers at 3.35 million, followed by KT Corp. at 2.24 million and LG Uplus Corp. at 1.78 million.

The steady growth in 5G users comes as the country pushes for the network's wider deployment despite the COVID-19 pandemic, which has delayed related investment plans for the year.

The three major telecom operators promised last month to invest up to 25.7 trillion won to speed up improvements to 5G services and install a nationwide network by 2022.

According to a government report last week, the network's accessibility in public locations installed with 5G equipment hovered below 70 percent.

yunhwanchae@yna.co.kr
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