SK Telecom nears 40% share as KT fee waiver fuels switching
A graphic shows subscriber switching trends among South Korea’s mobile carriers. graphic by Asia Today and translated by UPI
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
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