Half of the Population Uses 5G · Average Monthly Traffic per Person 25GB 'Mid-Tier Plan Speed'

As of late April, 5G subscribers surpass 23 million

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] As the number of 5th generation (5G) mobile communication subscribers surpassed 23 million, users were found to use an average of 25.87 gigabytes (GB) of data per month. The government plans to accelerate the establishment of a mid-tier plan ranging from 20GB to 60GB for consumer benefits.

According to the Ministry of Science and ICT's "Wireless Communication Service Statistics Status," as of the end of April, the number of 5G subscribers was counted at 23,471,125. This is an increase of 564,912 (2.47%) from the previous month (22,906,213). This means half of the population uses 5G. Looking at the number of 5G subscribers by telecom company, SK Telecom has the most with 11,149,839. Next are KT with 7,118,304 and LG Uplus with 5,125,703. Among the total 11,209,050 MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) subscribers, 77,279 use 5G.

Looking at wireless data traffic statistics, during the same period, 5G mobile communication data traffic reached 593,021 terabytes (TB), approaching 600TB. Most of this is 5G smartphone traffic. The average traffic per domestic 5G subscriber, including unlimited plans, was recorded at 25.87GB. Since the launch of 5G service in 2019, the average monthly traffic per 5G subscriber has remained in the 20GB range. The average monthly traffic per unlimited plan subscriber is also below 50GB. According to statistics at the end of March, the average monthly traffic per unlimited plan subscriber was 43.17GB. This means that even those subscribed to the 80,000 KRW range unlimited plans from the three major telecom companies use about 43GB of data on average. By content type, video accounted for 57.1% of total 5G traffic.

The government judged that consumers' choices are limited and emphasized the need to introduce a 5G mid-tier plan. In fact, looking at the plans of the three major telecom companies, there is no plan that allows usage between 20GB and 60GB. The 5G plans they offer only include 9-12GB plans priced between 20,000 and 40,000 KRW and plans over 100GB priced between 70,000 and 100,000 KRW. The situation is similar for MVNOs. The industry also views the introduction of various plans as a natural phenomenon as 5G enters its fourth year, surpasses a 40% penetration rate, and becomes mainstream.

The 5G mid-tier plan is expected to be launched as early as October. A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "We are discussing the launch of the 5G mid-tier plan with telecom companies." The three major telecom companies also conveyed to the ministry that they are reviewing the introduction of a 5G mid-tier plan. They have begun the review process for plan design. Typically, the establishment of a new plan involves conducting demand surveys, analyzing customer preferences, running average revenue per user (ARPU) simulations, and reviewing the impact on profitability.

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