Baek Byung-yeul is a journalist at The Korea Times focused on cultural content, including films and cultural events in South Korea. You can contact him at baekby@koreatimes.co.kr to share your insights.
KT offers unlimited 5G data plan for $70 a month
Lee Pil-jae, second from right, vice president of KT, poses while demonstrating the firm's 5G group video call service 'narle' at the firm's headquarters in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul, Tuesday. / Courtesy of KT
By Baek Byung-yeul
By Baek Byung-yeul
KT has introduced unlimited data plans for its mobile fifth-generation (5G) network in an attempt to woo more consumers to the high-speed service, which will begin April 5, the mobile carrier said Tuesday.
The firm came up with four monthly data plans for mobile 5G services and three of them offer unlimited data.
“We thought the unlimited plans would be essential for 5G services as data use is expected to increase,” Park Hyun-jin, head of the firm's 5G marketing division, said during a press conference at the firm's headquarters in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul.
“We have prepared three unlimited monthly data plans for 5G services ― the 5G Super Plan basic, special and premium ― and they are priced at 80,000 won ($70.4), 100,000 won and 130,000 won respectively,” he said adding the plans offer free international roaming data in 185 countries, as well as free voice calls and text messages.
“The 5G Super Plan basic is 9,000 won cheaper than the unlimited data plan for LTE services. Subscribers to the basic and special plans can use unlimited international roaming data with an upper speed restriction of 100 kbps, which is enough for text messages and web surfing while the premium plan users can use data overseas with a restriction of 3 Mbps,” he said.
For consumers who don't use data much, the firm also unveiled a 5G slim plan, priced at 55,000 won per month.
KT has 30,000 base stations that can cover six major and 85 smaller cities throughout the country. To improve transparency, the firm will launch a website that shows the firm's 5G coverage map.
“At the website, consumers can check KT's 5G coverage map of the country starting April 5. It will be updated every day,” Lee Pil-jae, vice president of KT, said.
Regarding the possibility of data bottlenecks that slow internet speed, KT said its network can manage the heavy data use.
“Our 5G base stations have a cell capacity of over 20 gigabps, which is five to six times larger than that of LTE, so we can comply with demands from users who consume data heavily,” said Oh Seong-mok, president of the network division at the firm.
Introducing enjoyable 5G content, KT demonstrated its own video call service, “narle,” that enables group video calls for up to eight people, and an esports live service, a game streaming service that allows users to watch up to five channels at the same time.