South Korean telcos pin hope on further 5G adoption this year

Seoul: South Korean mobile carriers are aiming for mass user migration to 5G networks this year after failing to meet their subscriber targets in 2020 amid the pandemic.

The country ended last year with a total 11.85 million 5G subscribers, with SK Telecom Co., the country’s largest wireless carrier, leading the pack with 5.48 million users, followed by KT Corp. at 3.62 million and LG Uplus Corp. at 2.75 million, according to ICT ministry data.

The total figure fell short of initial forecasts of around 15 million made before the COVID-19 outbreak, which weighed on user growth in the first half of the year.