Marketing Silenced by Top 3 Telecoms... Sent 70,000 to Altteul Phone

Number of Mobile Number Portability Users Decreased by 13% in February
Alttel Phone Subscribers Increased by 22%

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Despite the new release of Samsung Electronics' flagship model (Galaxy S22), the number of mobile phone number porters decreased. While the three major mobile carriers?SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus?continued to lose subscribers, the number of MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) subscribers increased by more than 70,000.

According to the status of mobile phone number porters in February from the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) on the 14th, the total number of mobile number porters last month was 378,817, down 13.4% from the previous month (437,276). The number of porters, which had been maintained between 400,000 and 500,000 since July last year, fell back to the 300,000 range after six months. While the total number of mobile number porters in the telecommunications market is decreasing, only MVNOs increased their subscriber numbers.

The net increase in subscribers switching from the three major carriers to MVNOs was 74,841. This is a 22% increase (61,228) compared to the previous month. Conversely, the number of subscribers for the major carriers decreased. SK Telecom lost 32,304 subscribers, KT lost 24,799, and LG Uplus lost 17,738.

Typically, when high-end smartphones such as Galaxy or iPhone are released, the number of number porters increases. However, since last year, the correlation between 'device sales = number porting' has been breaking down. An industry insider explained, "As carriers reduce marketing costs, the cutthroat competition has calmed down," adding, "Companies have also set low official subsidies and dealer commissions for the Galaxy S22 series."

The reason carriers are not aggressively marketing is that although the 5G mobile communication market has fully started, they have not yet found a definite profit model. While the number of 5G subscribers on high-priced plans has exceeded 20 million, improving profitability somewhat, it is still insufficient to bear the large-scale 5G infrastructure investments. Therefore, the industry explains that carriers have no choice but to tighten their belts starting with marketing expenses.

The reason why the number of porters is concentrated in the MVNO market is that the share of unlocked phones is increasing and demand for LTE plans, which are cheaper than expensive 5G plans, is growing.

The monthly communication fee for people using 5G smartphones mostly exceeds 100,000 KRW. This is because 5G smartphone prices easily exceed 1 million KRW, and carriers' 5G plans start from 55,000 KRW. On the other hand, if consumers purchase an unlocked phone separately and subscribe to an MVNO's SIM-only plan, they receive services similar to those of the three major carriers but pay at least 30% less in communication fees. According to market research firm Consumer Insight, 35% of consumers who purchased smartphones in the second half of last year chose unlocked devices.

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