Contents
1 SUMMARY In a nutshell Ovum view
2 THE IMPACT OF LTE LTE penetration in South Korea has surpassed 40% High LTE penetration has come at a price LTE ARPU drives up blended ARPU
3 DRIVERS AND BARRIERS TO LTE DEPLOYMENT 3G network constraint is the primary motivator LGU+ sees LTE as opportunity to level technology playing field The political challenge Regulator gets tougher on illegal subsidies
4 NETWORK All Korean MNOs have nationwide LTE coverage SKT drives technology innovation SKT claims first-to-market with LTE-Advanced
5 MARKETING AND POSITIONING SKT commands price premium for data
6 PRICING Telcos launch tiered pricing for LTE with little variation Operators up data allowances Unlimited 3G data abolished for LTE Bulk of LTE users buy big data buckets that dwarf usage Telcos launch unlimited voice and text plans Targeted plans, shared data plans, and rollover data for LTE Unlimited data offered for LTE, promotion extended Data overage offered at discount
7 DEVICES Device supply not an issue with two local vendors 8 VALUE-ADDED SERVICES SKT creates free media content portal for LTE RCS and VoLTE services 9 APPENDIX
Figures
Figure 1: SK Telecom's mobile connections by technology
Figure 2: SK Telecom's mobile service revenue and ARPU
Figure 3: Basic LTE price plans – July 2013