Mobile carriers raise mid- to low-end 5G plans and public subsidies
5G popularization begins in earnest this year… Fierce competition for subscriber acquisition
The advance reservation for Samsung Electronics’ new smartphone’Galaxy S21′ is held from the 15th to the 21st. Consumers who visited KT Square in Sejong-daero, Seoul on the 15th, the first day of advance reservation, are watching the Galaxy S21 series. Reporter Kim Youngwoo [email protected]
With the launch of Samsung Electronics’ premium smartphone’Galaxy S21′ series in the first half of this year, domestic mobile carriers are fiercely competing to attract 5G (5G) subscribers.
Following LG U+’s announcement of a public subsidy of up to 500,000 won, KT(23,600 -2.07%)Also raised the support fund to the same level in one day. As the gap with SK Telecom, which has the lowest publicly disclosed subsidy among the three mobile telecommunications companies, widens, interest in the possibility of an additional increase in the future is also drawing attention.
According to the mobile communication industry on the 18th, KT announced on the 16th that it raised the public announcement subsidy for the Galaxy S21 to 262,000 to 500,000 won, which is more than double the existing 100,000 to 240,000 won.
This is the same level as the 269,000-500,000 won announced by LG Uplus the day before. Disclosure subsidies for each plan are △ 130,000 won per month, Super Plan Premium Choice 500,000 won △ 110,000 won per month Super Plan Special Choice and 90,000 won per month Super Plan Basic Choice 450,000 won △ 69,000 won per month 5G Simple 340,000 won △ 50,000 per month The 5G slim of 5,000 won is 262,000 won.
The industry believes that KT has considered LG U+, which has provided an unprecedented disclosure subsidy up to twice that of its competitors.
At the beginning of last month, when LG Uplus raised the public subsidy for the iPhone 12 mini from a maximum of 229,000 won to 430,000 won, the next day KT also increased significantly from 138,000 won to 420,000 won.
A KT official explained, “In order to coexist with the difficult distribution network and eliminate customer discrimination due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19), we raised the support fund to a level similar to that of our competitors.”
If the increased public subsidies are applied, the actual purchase price of the Galaxy S21 drops to 400,000 won when the highest rate plan is applied.
For example, if you subscribe to the △5G Smart △5G Premier Regular △5G Premier Plus △5G Premier Super △5G Signature Plan, which is an unlimited data rate plan of 85,000 won or more per month from LG Uplus, the maximum public subsidy of 500,000 won and additional subsidies for distribution channels (disclosed) If you add 15% of the support fund), a total of 575,000 won will be discounted. The actual purchase price of the Galaxy S21, which has a factory price of 999,900 won, drops to 42,4900 won. This is cheaper than receiving a 25% discount on a two-year option.
The three mobile operators surpassed 10 million 5G subscribers last year. In the era of 5G full-scale popularization this year, the company is eager to expand subscribers by releasing mid-to-low-priced 5G plans one after another and cutting public subsidies. Accordingly, attention is focused on whether or not SK Telecom’s disclosure subsidies will be raised, which announced the lowest public subsidies among the three mobile telecommunication companies on the 15th.
SK Telecom provides benefits for those subject to device changes to subscribe to an online plan (untact plan), which is 30% cheaper than the existing 5G plan, instead of having less public subsidies compared to competitors. The company is currently monitoring the trends of competitors and reviewing changes in publicly announced subsidies. The announced subsidies for the three mobile carriers will be confirmed on the 22nd, the date of pre-booking for Galaxy S21.
Reporter Joara Hankyung.com [email protected]
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