Telecom 3 Companies Invest 3.4 Trillion KRW in Facilities in H1... Falls Short of 4 Trillion KRW Target

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] It has been identified that the three major domestic telecommunications companies executed facility investments (CAPEX) worth 3.44 trillion KRW in the first half of the year. This falls short of the 4 trillion KRW target.

The Korea Telecommunications Operators Association announced these figures on the 7th based on the performance reports of SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus. By company, SK Telecom, including its subsidiary SK Broadband, invested 1.47 trillion KRW, KT invested 970 billion KRW, and LG Uplus invested 1 trillion KRW.

Despite the impact of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), this is a level similar to the first half of last year, when the largest-ever annual investment was made. Last year, the CAPEX of the three telecom companies reached the 8 trillion KRW range due to large-scale 5G investments.

The telecommunications industry originally planned to invest 2.7 trillion KRW in the first half of this year, but immediately executed network investments, which are usually concentrated in the second half, to revitalize the economy after COVID-19, expanding the investment scale to 4 trillion KRW.

The Korea Telecommunications Operators Association explained, "Despite difficulties such as nationwide movement restrictions due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing, restrictions on external personnel access by building owners, and control measures, although the 4 trillion KRW investment target for the first half was not fully met, investments exceeded the initially planned 2.7 trillion KRW by more than 700 billion KRW."

The telecommunications industry plans to invest approximately 24.5 trillion to 25.7 trillion KRW (tentative) in wireless and wired communication infrastructure over the next three years, striving to accelerate the early construction of 5G infrastructure, which is considered a core part of the digital new deal's "data highway."

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