[Click e-Stock] "KT's USIM Replacement Costs Estimated at 100 Billion Won... Actual Impact Only 30%"

KT has decided to offer free USIM card replacements to all customers as a countermeasure following a hacking incident. Securities firms have projected that the resulting costs will amount to approximately 100 billion won.

On November 5, Kim Hoejae, a researcher at Daishin Securities, predicted this and stated, "The replacement costs are expected to be reflected in the fourth quarter's earnings, but the actual costs incurred are likely to be only about 30% of that amount." He added, "Costs for unused replacement stock after the replacement period ends will be reversed, which is estimated to occur in the first half of next year."

On the previous day, KT held a board meeting and resolved to provide free USIM card replacements to a total of 17 million people, including approximately 14 million of its own customers and 3 million customers of budget phone services. USIM card replacements will be available nationwide at KT retail stores for customers who apply through KT.com and the dedicated USIM replacement center starting today. From November 11, a self-activation service via courier delivery will also be available.

Researcher Kim explained, "Unlike the SK Telecom case, this hacking incident did not involve the information of all customers. Instead, it was limited to the leakage of information of about 22,000 customers due to the illegal installation of small base stations in certain regions." He continued, "After the SK Telecom cyber breach, it appears that a significant number of both KT and LG Uplus customers subscribed to USIM information protection services, so demand for USIM replacements is not expected to be large." In the case of SK Telecom, free USIM replacements were offered to all customers, but it is estimated that less than 50% of customers actually replaced their cards.

Meanwhile, the previous day's board meeting also resulted in the current CEO deciding not to seek another term, which has been evaluated as an early resolution of management uncertainty for KT. Researcher Kim commented, "KT's stock price tends to become more volatile during CEO transitions, but the current CEO's decision not to seek reappointment has helped resolve uncertainty early, which is a positive sign."

Yonhap News Agency

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