LG Uplus Surpasses 15 Million Mobile Subscribers

Over 14 Million Subscribers Since March Last Year After 10 Months... Over 8% Annual Growth Driven by 5G Commercialization
U+AR·VR and Other Differentiated Content Evaluated to Drive Subscriber Growth
President Hwang Hyun-sik: "Organic Synergy of Telecom and Broadcasting, Pursuing Balanced Growth This Year as Well"

Photo by LG Uplus

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] LG Uplus announced on the 20th that the number of mobile subscribers, including mobile network operators (MNO) and 'alttel-pon (MVNO·Mobile Virtual Network Operators)', has surpassed 15 million. This marks an increase of 1 million subscribers just 10 months after reaching 14 million in March last year.

According to LG Uplus, the number of mobile subscribers grew rapidly by more than 8% annually since the commercialization of 5G in April last year. This growth rate exceeds the average annual growth rate of 5-6% over the past five years. This is attributed to the effect of the 5G marketing efforts focused on last year.

In particular, by leading with various 5G content such as 'U+VR·AR' integrating virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) content, and 'cloud gaming', LG Uplus secured subscribers evenly across age groups from teenagers to those in their 40s. The actual age distribution showed 40s at 16%, 20s at 15%, 30s at 14%, and teens at 5%, in that order.

In Internet TV (IPTV), 'U+tv' received positive responses from parents in their 30s and 40s, centered on the kids service 'Idolnara', and the partnership with the global online video service (OTT) Netflix was evaluated as effective in providing diverse viewing content.

An LG Uplus official explained, "Since the commercialization of 5G, differentiated 5G content led by AR and VR has been well received, resulting in an increase in total mobile subscribers," adding, "The average monthly data usage of 5G customers is more than twice that of LTE, indicating high demand for 5G content." Last year, the average monthly mobile data usage per person for LG Uplus was 12GB for LTE and up to 30GB or more for 5G.

LG Uplus plans to raise the proportion of 5G customers among total mobile subscribers to around 30% by the end of this year. As of the end of last year, 5G subscribers accounted for about 10% of the total.

Hwang Hyun-sik, Head of Consumer Business at LG Uplus, said, "Achieving 15 million mobile subscribers is thanks to the synergistic effect of all businesses, including not only 5G but also home·media, Internet of Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI) services," and added, "This year, we plan to promote balanced growth across all areas, including the wireless business."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.