No Issues During Chuseok Holiday... 3 Major Telecom Companies Begin Intensive Network Management

The three mobile carriers are stepping up focused quality management to provide stable communication services ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

SK Telecom will operate a special communication situation room from the 27th to October 3rd and deploy approximately 1,150 specialized personnel from subsidiaries, affiliates, and partners nationwide to monitor communication services 24/7. The total number of holiday work personnel from related companies such as SKT, SK Broadband, SK O&S, and Home & Service reaches 8,000.

Members of SKT and SK Onns conducting a preliminary inspection of network equipment near Yongin Rest Area to manage mobile communication quality.
[Photo by SKT]

SKT has expanded the capacity of 5G and LTE base stations mainly in train stations, bus terminals, airports, major tourist spots, accommodations, and busy districts where an increase in mobile communication traffic is expected nationwide. They will also ensure thorough management of mobile communication quality in habitual traffic congestion sections on highways where localized data traffic is expected to increase, as well as for the TMAP service, which customers frequently use during their trips home and back.

On Chuseok day, nationwide data usage is predicted to peak, increasing by about 24% compared to normal days. SKT has completed pre-quality inspections and service optimization work. Considering the possibility of increased movement by individuals or small groups during the holiday, they have also finished inspecting communication infrastructure on major highway and national road sections, ancestral gravesites and public cemeteries, resorts, and camping sites.

To support family gatherings using mobile phones during the Chuseok holiday, SKT will provide free video call services to its customers for six days from the 28th to October 3rd. Using the AI solution A-STAR (Access-Infra Service for Targeting & Action Recommendation) for wireless network quality management, they will conduct seamless real-time network status monitoring throughout the holiday. International roaming is expected to increase by about 10% during the Chuseok holiday compared to normal times, and they plan to provide smooth service through focused management.

Special communication measures have also been established to manage traffic increases due to the Hangzhou Asian Games, which runs until October 8th, ensuring thorough communication quality management. SKT anticipates increased roaming and media traffic from game broadcasts during this period and is conducting focused monitoring.

Sung Jin-soo, Vice President in charge of SKT Infrastructure Services CT, stated, “We plan to ensure stable service operation so that customers can use communication services without inconvenience during this Chuseok holiday and the Hangzhou Asian Games period.”

KT network employees conducting a preliminary quality inspection of a communication base station near the Seoul Tollgate.
[Photo by KT]

KT has designated about 1,100 major nationwide highways, rest areas, terminals expected to be crowded during the holiday, KTX and SRT stations, airports, and shopping malls as focused management targets and has begun monitoring.

KT will deploy about 1,300 personnel daily during the holiday to operate 24-hour control and maintain an emergency recovery system by deploying mobile base stations according to traffic conditions. They have completed pre-expansion of data processing capacity and load balancing, considering the stability of the free video call service provided during the holiday and the increased viewership of the Hangzhou Asian Games and online video services (OTT) during the holiday, and will strengthen media traffic monitoring.

Additionally, KT has completed pre-inspections of international roaming services in preparation for an increase in overseas travelers during the extended holiday. They also plan to thoroughly respond to prevent customer damage by strengthening real-time monitoring and preemptive blocking against cyberattacks such as smishing messages like “Chuseok gifts” and “greetings” and distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks targeting the holiday.

Park Jong-ho, Executive Director of KT Network Control Headquarters, said, “We have strengthened the network quality management system so that customers can enjoy a pleasant holiday without inconvenience even during the longer Chuseok holiday period than usual,” adding, “We will do our best to provide stable communication services.”

LG Uplus employees are checking the communication quality.
[Photo by LG Uplus]

LG Uplus announced that it has established a 'special holiday communication measure' including network optimization and 24-hour operation of a comprehensive situation room. They have entered an emergency operation system for special holiday network communication to ensure customers can smoothly use communication services such as data and voice, completing preparations in advance. They will also open a comprehensive situation room at their Magok headquarters in Seoul and begin 24-hour focused monitoring to respond urgently to emergencies.

Previously, LG Uplus pre-inspected and expanded the capacity of 5G and LTE base stations mainly on highways, airports, railway stations, and local busy districts where network traffic is expected to increase during the holiday, and carried out optimization work based on this.

Considering the characteristics of the holiday, where data traffic and call volume are expected to increase in specific areas, they have also deployed on-site personnel in key locations to prepare for immediate dispatch in case of failures. By analyzing the annual trends of call volume and data usage during holidays, they plan to actively protect customers at major highway toll gates, rest areas, and habitual congestion sections.

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