'Goodbye 011·017'...2G Service Fades into History

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] SK Telecom's 2G service, which still has 384,000 subscribers (as of June 1), will end tomorrow. After today, SK Telecom's 2G service will no longer be able to send or receive calls.

According to the industry on the 26th, SK Telecom's 2G service will be terminated at midnight on the 27th, with Seoul being the last city to end the service. SK Telecom began terminating 2G services on July 6 in Gangwon, Gyeongsang, Sejong City, Jeolla, Jeju, and Chungcheong (excluding metropolitan cities), followed by metropolitan cities such as Gwangju, Daegu, Daejeon, Busan, and Ulsan on the 13th, and Gyeonggi and Incheon on the 20th.

To facilitate the transition of existing 2G subscribers, SK Telecom is operating a support program until July 26, 2022. This program is divided into 'Device Purchase Support' and 'Discount on Fees.' The Device Purchase Support offers a 300,000 KRW subsidy for device purchase and a monthly 10,000 KRW discount on fees for 24 months, or provides one free LTE phone model among 10 options including Galaxy Folder 2, Galaxy J2 Pro, and Galaxy Wide 4. The Discount on Fees option offers a 70% discount on monthly usage fees for 24 months.

When 2G subscribers switch to 3G, LTE, or 5G, their current 011 or 017 numbers must be changed to 010 numbers. Subscribers who wish to keep their existing numbers can maintain them until June next year.

However, consumer opposition to the service termination remains. On the 21st of this month, the Seoul Administrative Court dismissed a provisional injunction request filed by about 400 01X users to suspend the termination of SK Telecom's 2G service. Nevertheless, an administrative lawsuit filed by 01X users against the Ministry of Science and ICT regarding the cancellation of SK Telecom's approval to discontinue the 2G service is ongoing. Members of the 010 Integration Opposition Movement Headquarters plan to appeal to the Supreme Court in a 'number portability claim lawsuit' against SK Telecom.

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