fee

Jan. 12 (Asia Today) — SK Telecom has been the main beneficiary of KT’s decision to waive early termination fees, drawing most of the more than 210,000 subscribers who switched away from KT over the past 10 days, industry data showed Monday.

Data from the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association showed 216,203 KT users ported their numbers to other carriers or mobile virtual network operators between Dec. 31 and Saturday. Departures topped 100,000 within a week of the fee waiver taking effect, then daily switching exceeded 30,000 on Saturday, when 33,305 users left, the data showed.

SK Telecom drew about 160,000 of those switchers, or 74.2% of the total, according to the data. That implies an average inflow of more than 20,000 KT users a day during the period.

The surge has boosted competition in number portability, with carriers increasing promotions and handset subsidies. SK Telecom also offered benefits such as restoring customer tenure for returning subscribers whose accounts were canceled between April 19 and July 14, 2025, the report said.

SK Telecom has sought to rebuild subscriber counts after a large outflow last year tied to a SIM-related hacking incident. The company posted a net loss of about 730,000 mobile subscribers in 2025, while KT and LG Uplus logged net gains of about 240,000 and 260,000, respectively, the report said.

The report said SK Telecom’s third-quarter wireless revenue fell 20.5% from a year earlier to 2.124 trillion won ($1.45 billion), amid compensation and customer retention costs.

The subscriber losses also pushed SK Telecom below the 40% mobile market share level it had held for about a decade. The report cited government data showing SK Telecom had 22,405,714 mobile subscribers in October 2025, representing a 38.8% share.

Industry officials said SK Telecom is expected to secure about 200,000 to 210,000 KT switchers by Tuesday, the deadline for the fee waiver. Analysts said that would likely lift SK Telecom toward 39%, but more gains would be needed to regain 40% quickly.

Based on an industry estimate of about 57.6 million total mobile subscribers, a 40% share would amount to about 23 million subscribers, the report said.

— Reported by Asia Today; translated by UPI

© Asia Today. Unauthorized reproduction or redistribution prohibited.

HOUMA, La. — For nearly 50 years, James Blanchard has made his living in the Gulf of Mexico, pulling shrimp from the sea.

It’s all he ever wanted to do, since he was around 12 years old and accompanied his father, a mailman and part-time shrimper, as he spent weekends trawling the marshy waters off Louisiana. Blanchard loved the adventure and splendid isolation.

He made a good living, even as the industry collapsed around him. He and his wife, Cheri, bought a comfortable home in a tidy subdivision here in the heart of Bayou Country. They helped put three kids through college.

But eventually Blanchard began to contemplate his forced retirement, selling his 63-foot boat and hanging up his wall of big green fishing nets once he turns 65 in February.

“The amount of shrimp was not a problem,” said Blanchard, a fourth-generation shrimper who routinely hauls in north of 30,000 flash-frozen pounds on a two-week trip. “It’s making a profit, because the prices were so low.”

Then came President Trump, his tariffs and famously itchy trigger finger.

Blanchard is a lifelong Republican, but wasn’t initially a big Trump fan.

In April, Trump slapped a 10% fee on shrimp imports, which grew to 50% for India, America’s largest overseas source of shrimp. Further levies were imposed on Ecuador, Vietnam and Indonesia, which are other major U.S. suppliers.

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Tariffs may slow economic growth, discombobulate markets and boost inflation. Trump’s single-handed approach to tax-and-trade policy has landed him before the Supreme Court, which is expected to rule by summer on a major test case of presidential power.

Blanchard snacks on a bag of dried shrimp.

But for Blanchard, those tariffs have been a lifeline. He’s seen a significant uptick in prices, from as low as 87 cents a pound for wild-caught shrimp to $1.50 or more. That’s nowhere near the $4.50 a pound, adjusted for inflation, that U.S shrimpers earned back in the roaring 1980s, when shrimp was less common in home kitchens and something of a luxury item.

It’s enough, however, for Blanchard to shelve his retirement plans and for that — and Trump — he’s appreciative.

“Writing all the bills in the world is great,” he said of efforts by congressional lawmakers to prop up the country’s dwindling shrimp fishermen. “But it don’t get nothing done.”

Trump, Blanchard said, has delivered.

::

Shrimp is America’s most popular seafood, but that hasn’t buoyed the U.S. shrimp industry.

Wild-caught domestic shrimp make up less than 10% of the market. It’s not a matter of quality, or overfishing. A flood of imports — farmed on a mass scale, lightly regulated by developing countries and thus cheaper to produce — has decimated the market for American shrimpers.

In the Gulf and South Atlantic, warm water shrimp landings — the term the industry uses — had an average annual value of more than $460 million between 1975 and 2022, according to the Southern Shrimp Alliance, a trade group. (Those numbers are not adjusted for inflation.)

A boat moves up a canal in Chauvin, La.

Over the last two years, the value of the commercial shrimp fishery has fallen to $269 million in 2023 and $256 million in 2024.

As the country’s leading shrimp producer, Louisiana has been particularly hard hit. “It’s getting to the point that we are on our knees,” Acy Cooper, president of the Louisiana Shrimp Assn., recently told New Orleans television station WVUE.

In the 1980s, there were more than 6,000 licensed shrimpers working in Louisiana. Today, there are fewer than 1,500.

Blanchard can see the ripple effects in Houma — in the shuttered businesses, the depleted job market and the high incidence of drug overdoses.

Latrevien Moultrie, 14, fishes in Houma, La.

“It’s affected everybody,” he said. “It’s not only the boats, the infrastructure, the packing plants. It’s the hardware stores. The fuel docks. The grocery stores.”

Two of the Blanchardses’ three children have moved away, seeking opportunity elsewhere. One daughter is a university law professor. Their son works in logistics for a trucking company in Georgia. Their other daughter, who lives near the couple, applies her advanced degree in school psychology as a stay-at-home mother of five.

(Cheri Blanchard, 64 and retired from the state labor department, keeps the books for her husband.)

It turns out the federal government is at least partly responsible for the shrinking of the domestic shrimp industry. In recent years, U.S. taxpayers have subsidized overseas shrimp farming to the tune of at least $195 million in development aid.

Seated at their dining room table, near a Christmas tree and other remnants of the holidays, Blanchard read from a set of scribbled notes — a Bible close at hand — as he and his wife decried the lax safety standards, labor abuses and environmental degradation associated with overseas shrimp farming.

James Blanchard and his wife, Cheri, like Trump’s policies. His personality is another thing.

The fact their taxes help support those practices is particularly galling.

“A slap in the face,” Blanchard called it.

::

Donald Trump grew slowly on the Blanchards.

The two are lifelong Republicans, but they voted for Trump in 2016 only because they considered him less bad than Hillary Clinton.

Once he took office, they were pleasantly surprised.

They had more money in their pockets. Inflation wasn’t an issue. Washington seemed less heavy-handed and intrusive. By the time Trump ran for reelection, the couple were fully on board and they happily voted for him again in 2024.

Republican National Committee reading material sits on the counter of James Blanchard’s kitchen.

Still, there are things that irk Blanchard. He doesn’t much care for Trump’s brash persona and can’t stand all the childish name-calling. For a long time, he couldn’t bear listening to Trump’s speeches.

“You didn’t ever really listen to many of Obama’s speeches,” Cheri interjected, and James allowed as how that was true.

“I liked his personality,” Blanchard said of the former Democratic president. “I liked his character. But I didn’t like his policies.”

It’s the opposite with Trump.

Unlike most politicians, Blanchard said, when Trump says he’ll do something he generally follows through.

Such as tightening border security.

“I have no issue at all with immigrants,” he said, as his wife nodded alongside. “I have an issue with illegal immigrants.” (She echoed Trump in blaming Renee Good for her death last week at the hands of an ICE agent.)

“I have sympathy for them as families,” Blanchard went on, but crossing the border doesn’t make someone a U.S. citizen. “If I go down the highway 70 miles an hour in that 30-mile-an-hour zone, guess what? I’m getting a ticket. … Or if I get in that car and I’m drinking, guess what? They’re bringing me to jail. So what’s the difference?”

Between the two there isn’t much — apart from Trump’s “trolling,” as Cheri called it — they find fault with.

Blanchard hailed the lightning-strike capture and arrest of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro as another example of Trump doing and meaning exactly what he says.

“When Biden was in office, they had a $25-million bounty on [Maduro’s] head,” Blanchard said. “But apparently it was done knowing that it was never going to be enforced.”

More empty talk, he suggested.

Just like all those years of unfulfilled promises from politicians vowing to rein in foreign competition and revive America’s suffering shrimping industry.

James Blanchard aboard his boat, which he docks in Bayou Little Caillou.

Trump and his tariffs have given Blanchard back his livelihood and for that alone he’s grateful.

There’s maintenance and repair work to be done on his boat — named Waymaker, to honor the Lord — before Blanchard musters his two-man crew and sets out from Bayou Little Caillou.

He can hardly wait.

THE price for passenger drop-offs at London’s second busiest airport has jumped 40 percent.

That’s a £3 increase from previous charge of £7 and will apply to all drivers entering the drop off zone, excluding Blue Badge holders.

From today London Gatwick will have the highest drop-off fees in the country thanks to the new £10 charge.

The price has steadily increased over the years since it was first introduced in 2021 and was only £5.

It jumped to £6 in 2024 before being increased to £7 just a year later in May 2025.

“Poor old passengers and drivers are getting another blow to the pocket,” complained travel writer Andy Mossack in an interview with BBC Radio Surrey.

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“It is disgraceful.”

London Gatwick, which is the busiest single runway airport in Europe, said it was “not a decision they took lightly”.

However, it cited reasons such as the “doubling of business rates” as one of the reasons for the increase in cost.

A spokesperson for Gatwick suggested passengers could use the free shuttle bus if they are dropped of in the long stay car park.

They added: “We also have excellent public transport connectivity at the airport, with passengers able to connect directly with more than 120 train stations.

“Many local bus routes serve the airport 24  hours a day, seven days a week.”

Drop off fees have also increased at London Heathrow with its drop off fee increasing from £6 to £7 on January 1.

It is also introducing a strict 10-minute drop off time, with drivers charged £80 if they go over.

And London City, the last of the London airports to allow free drop offs, will be introducing a new charge in 2026 as well.

TRAVELERS visiting America’s famed national parks are going to face an extra $100 entry fee this week.

It comes as the National Park Service announced a new initiative, called the “America-first entry fee policy”.

Under the policy from January 1 2026, citizens of the US will be prioritized for free entry, while international visitors will now face higher entry fees overall.

This will bring the cost of annual passes for non-residents to $250, while US residents will continue to pay $80.

The parks will no longer offer free admission at all on select days of celebration including Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which falls on the third Monday of January, or Juneteenth, celebrated on June 19.

Though Flag Day (June 14), the anniversary of the NPS (August 25), Constitution Day (September 17), and President Theodore Roosevelt’s birthday (October 27), will be acknowledged as fee-free days.

So if you’re planning a trip as a US citizen, these are the best days to aim for.

Eleven national parks will be affected, including the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, and Yosemite, according to the U.S. Department of the Interior.

In total, there will be eight free-entry days in 2026, up from six in 2025, but only for American citizens and residents. 

Fees and increases will continue to vary by park, so it’s always best to check online before you book or travel.

The changes will make sure US taxpayers “continue to enjoy affordable access, while international visitors contribute their fair share to maintaining and improving our parks for future generations,” Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted on X.

The increased fees come months after President Donald Trump signed an executive order to increase entry fees for foreign tourists.

LONDON City Airport will introduce drop-off fees for the very first time.

In just a matter of days, the airport will charge those dropping off passengers at its airport.

London City Airport will introduce a drop-off charge of £8 from January 6, 2026.

On its website, the airport said: “The charge will be £8.00 for 0-5 minutes, then £1 per minute for any additional minutes, with a maximum stay of 10 minutes.”

Blue Badge holders are exempt, as are licensed black cab drivers.

London City is the last of the London airports to allow free drop-offs.

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The airport explained: “The charge will help London City meet its wider sustainability goals by reducing the number of vehicles travelling to and from the airport, supporting efforts to lower congestion, reduce emissions and improve air quality in the surrounding area.”

The hope is that the fee will encourage travellers to use public transport rather than arrive by car.

Currently, around 10 per cent of passengers arrive by car, with another 14 per cent using taxis.

Planes from London City Airport fly to over 30 destinations across Europe including Amsterdam, Spain and Greece.

London City is the most recent airport to announce its new drop-off charges, but other major airports are doing the same in 2026.

As of January 1, 2026, London Heathrow has increased its drop-off fee from £6 to £7.

The last drop off increase at London Heathrow was in December 2024, from £5 to £6.

It is also introducing a strict 10-minute drop-off time, with drivers charged £80 if they go over the allocated time slot.

In just a matter of days, London Gatwick is also upping its drop-off fee.

From January 6, 2026, London Gatwick Airport will charge passengers being dropped off the new fee of £10.

Currently charging £7, the £3 increase (a 40 per cent jump) will apply to all drivers using the drop-off zone, excluding Blue Badge holders.

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My local airport was named the best in the UK – it beats London Heathrow and City by miles.