5G subscribers in Korea estimated to hit 5 million this year

The number of 5G mobile subscribers in South Korea is expected to surpass 5 million within this year as the new generation network adds 500,000 on average per month.

The number of 5G users in South Korea came to 1,911,705 as of the end of July, adding 574,840 from a month ago, according to the data released by the Ministry of Science and ICT. The figure rose from 271,686 subscribers in maiden month of April to 512,529 in May and to 552,650 in June.

SK Telecom’s 5G customers reached 791,241 as of July, up by 260,895 from June, accounting for 45.4 percent in the market. It was followed by KT with 30.8 percent or 596,612 subscribers and LG Uplus with 23.8 percent or 523,852.

LG Uplus, which was ahead of KT in terms of new subscriptions in June, was elbowed out by KT in June. In terms of the cumulative market share, SK Telecom maintained its leadership position with 41.4 percent, followed by KT with 31.2 percent and LG Uplus with 27.4 percent.

The number of 5G users is estimated to have added about 850,000 in August when Samsung’s 5G-enabled Galaxy Note 10 became available and this upward momentum is expected to continue this month as Samsung is set to launch its latest 5G smartphone Galaxy A90 5G and LG Electronics its rival model, LG V50S ThinQ.

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