SK Telecom announced it has reached one million 5G subscribers just 140 days after launching its network in April.
Currently, 5G subscribers make up more than 3.5% of SK Telecom’s total subscriber base of 28 million. The operator reports that its 5G user base grew as rapidly as its 4G LTE base did after launch. When SK Telecom introduced LTE in July 2011, it took roughly eight months to surpass one million LTE subscribers. The company also found that average monthly data consumption increased significantly when customers moved from LTE to 5G, rising about 65% from 20.4 GB on LTE to 33.7 GB on 5G.
As of August 19, SK Telecom had registered 880,000 5G customers since the service was introduced. That figure jumped dramatically over two days following the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 5G. SK Telecom currently offers three 5G-capable smartphones: the Galaxy S10 5G, LG V50 ThinQ 5G, and Galaxy Note 10 5G.
In its Q2 financial report earlier this month, SK Telecom posted revenue of £3 billion, operating income of £218 million, and net income of £175 million. The company attributes part of the revenue gain to its early 5G market presence. However, operating income fell, mainly because of higher marketing costs and investments related to building out the 5G network.
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