South Korea observed a radical spike in the number of 5G users on Monday. In recently shared data, it was revealed that the number of 5G mobile networks had topped 20 million. The data recorded as of November 2021 has shown the spike in the 5G users for the first time since 2019, when it was commercially introduced in the country.
From the total 72.57 million mobile subscriptions in South Korea, around 28% have switched to 5G in the last three years. With this, the 5G user number has reached 20.19 million as of November 2021. The data was produced by the Ministry of Science and Information and Communication Technology.
South Korea is a country with a population of 52 million people. The ICT ministry commercialized the 5G network in April 2019 and introduced it to the common public for usage. It has established 5G networks across the country that includes 85 cities in its coverage.
The previously shared data revealed that the number of 5G users has increased by more than a million in just one month. In October 2021, the 5G subscriptions had crossed 19.38 million due to the market’s new smartphone releases. According to industry experts, Apple’s new iPhone 13 was one of the major growth boosters in the increased 5G subscriptions.
Additionally, the release of Samsung’s new foldable phones added more subscriptions to the list. The new Samsung releases include Galaxy Z Fold3 and Galaxy Z Flip2, released in August last year.
According to reports, the newly launched Samsung foldable smartphone series is most famous among Korean smartphone users. Its sales had topped 1 million soon after the launch, 39 days to be precise.
Speaking of the Telecom operators, the country’s largest mobile carrier, SK Telecom had the most 5G subscriptions reaching around 9.52 million. According to the data, KT Corp. stood second with 6.16 million subscriptions, followed by LG Uplus Corp, which was at 4.46 million 5G subscriptions as of November last year.
With 5G witnessing rapid growth in its subscriptions, the number of 4G users have fallen dramatically. According to the data, the 4G users in the country reduced to 48.55 million. At present, the 4G subscription share is 67% of the total mobile network subscriptions.
