By Bahk Eun-ji, Kim Yoo-chul
SK Telecom (SKT) plans to launch its data-centered mobile payment plan Tuesday following two other mobile carriers ― KT and LG Uplus ― which already announced last week that they plan to offer unlimited calls and texting services.
SKT, the nation’s largest mobile carrier, reached a consensus for the new plan with the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) and the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (MSIP) after ending key differences, said officials.
SKT is obligated to gain approval from the government before introducing a new payment plan.
Although SKT is the largest carrier, it remains the last one to roll out the cheaper plans because voice calls are a major income source for the company.
Voice calls used to be the major income source for all three companies, but SKT has relatively more users than others.
The number of SKT's customers using voice calls more than data service was 2.85 million, or 10 percent of its total customer base as of the first quarter of this year. Its chief local rival KT terminated its CDMA service in 2011.
The number of SKT’s WCDMA, or 3G subscribers, remained at 5.82 million, accounting for 20.5 percent during the same period. 17.4 million users were using its LTE networks.
"SKT's new bill plan will include unlimited calls, as the telecom regulators pushed the company to lower the household expenses as the largest carrier," an official said.
He added that SKT was considering whether it will provide free calls only between its subscribers or between users subscribed to KT or LG Uplus.
“We are trying to roll out a differentiated plan that can represent our own competitive edge," an SKT spokesman said.
SKT has discussed launching the data-oriented bill plan since the beginning of the year, but it hadn’t settled disagreements over the unlimited calls between its subscribers and subscribers to other mobile carriers.
Since its chief local rival KT rolled out its new mobile payment plan which offer its subscribers more options in data packages including unlimited free calls and text messages from this month, it has been bringing a major change to the local telecom industry.
LG Uplus, the nation’s smallest player, launched data-centered long-term evolution (LTE) mobile payment plan one week after KT rolled out a similar plan.
All three telecom companies have been urged by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to launch cheaper subscription plans to reduce household telecom expenses.