[Concall] SK Telecom "28GHz Commercialization Schedule Not Fixed... No Annual CAPEX Increase Expected"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] SK Telecom stated that the commercialization plan for the ultra-high frequency 28㎓ band network has not yet been finalized.

Yoon Poong-young, SK Telecom Chief Financial Officer (CFO), explained during a conference call held after the Q1 earnings announcement on the 7th, "Regarding the 28㎓ band, the related ecosystem including equipment and services is not yet complete, so the official commercialization will be decided in connection with the fixed schedule once it is finalized."

In response to a question about whether the annual CAPEX might increase due to early execution of the first half CAPEX to overcome the COVID-19 pandemic, Yoon said, "We are considering early execution in the first half compared to the original plan," but added, "The annual plan links demand and investment scale, so an overall increase in scale is not currently expected."

SK Telecom executed 306.6 billion KRW in CAPEX in Q1, which is a 7.5% decrease compared to the same period last year, just before the commercialization of 5G.

Meanwhile, SK Telecom, the first among the three major domestic telecom companies to announce Q1 earnings, achieved quarterly results of 4.4504 trillion KRW in revenue and 302 billion KRW in operating profit.

Growth continued mainly in new growth sectors such as media and security, with revenue increasing by 2.7% compared to the same period last year. However, operating profit decreased by 6.4% due to ongoing 5G investment burdens combined with the impact of COVID-19. Net profit for the period recorded 306.8 billion KRW, down 17.9%, influenced by equity method gains from SK Hynix shares.

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