SK Telecom market dominance expanding
As expected, SK Telecom expanded its market dominance in November while its competitors posted sluggish or negative performances in terms of the number of new subscribers.
The total number of mobile subscribers in Korea reached 29.06 million at the end of November, up 0.79 percent or 230,000 from 28.83 million a month earlier.
SK Telecom's users numbered 11.67 million at the end of November, up 2.15 percent from a month earlier while users of sister company SK Shinsegi Telecom reached 3.32 million, up 1.59 percent in the corresponding period.
SKT, the country's largest mobile carrier, accounted for 40.15 percent market share, with SK Shinsegi taking up an 11.42 percent share. In total, SKT-Shinsegi carved out a 51.41 percent market share (14.99 million subscribers), up 0.45 percent from 50.96 percent at the end of October.
KTF, the country's second largest mobile carrier, said the number of subscribers reached 9.74 million at the end of November, up 0.25 percent (or 25,000 subscribers) from 9.715 million a month earlier. Its market share, however, slid by 0.3 percent to 33.40 percent in the corresponding period.
LG Telecom, the country's smallest mobile carrier, said the number of subscribers in end-November was 4.33 million, down 2.10 percent (or 93,000 subscribers) from 44.23 million a month earlier. Its market share also shrank from 15.34 percent in October to 14.90 percent in November.
The strong performance of SKT-Shinsegi was largely expected in the industry. Until June this year, SK Telecom refrained from attracting new subscribers in order to obtain approval for the merger with Shinsegi from government regulators. Capitalizing on SK Telecom's no-marketing period, KTF and LGT rushed to increase their user base and expand their market presences.
As such favorable conditions are now gone, KTF and LGT face an uphill battle against SKT, which is staging its usual marketing blitz on the strength of its dominant market position and deep pockets.
KTF and LG Telecom are mounting attacks on SK Telecom and its sister company SK Shinsegi Telecom, arguing that the government should take active measures to curb the market dominance of SKT-Shinsegi.
Alarmed by the increasing power of SKT-Shinsegi, KTF submitted proposals to the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) in mid-November, aimed at highlighting the problems and issues in connection with the merger between SKT and Shinsegi.
KTF argued in its proposals that SK Telecom and Shisnegi's merger should not be allowed as it could jeopardize fair competition in the domestic telecom market, and undermine the interest of customers. Even if the merger gets a green light, the government should put a strict limit on the market share of SK Telecom.
LG Telecom also submitted a similar proposal to MIC yesterday, arguing that the government should not allow SKT to merge with Shinsegi. And even if the merger goes through, the government should put strict regulations on SKT-Shinsegi so that their combined market share remains below 50 percent.
(insight@koreaherald.co.kr By Yang Sung-jin Staff reporter
2001.12.04
koreaherald.co.kr |
