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5G Milestone: Korea’s SK Telecom First to Pass 1M Subscribers

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SK Telecom in South Korea announced today that it has surpassed one million 5G subscribers in just 140 days after launching service. That's twice as fast as its LTE uptake in 2011.

The big difference with 5G?

People are using 65% more data on 5G than LTE.

SK Telecom's average LTE subscriber uses 20.4GB per month in data. But when they switch to 5G, that goes up to 33.7GB.

SK Telecom is a global leader in 5g, according to Moor Insights. SK also signed up the first 5 subscribers to 5G — K-pop stars and athletes — back in April. The company now has over 30,000 5G base stations, a significant number in relatively small nation.

Overall, SK says that it has 28 million subscribers. 3.5% of them have now upgraded to 5G.

"Many carriers are talking about 5G but it's clear who is leading globally in terms of subscribers and that's SK," says Patrick Moorhead, founder and president of Moor Insights and Strategy.

SK Telecom expects its rate of adoption to grow with new 5G devices from Samsung. The just-launched Galaxy Note 10 5G joins three 5G smartphones — Galaxy S10 5G, V50 ThinQ 5G, Galaxy Note 10 5G — that SK is already selling to its subscribers.

This is a milestone, to be sure, but the most interesting part is the increased data usage.

The fact that 5G subscribers almost instantly transition to using 65% more data has significant implications for networks, carriers, and content providers. And it provides fuel to the fire of those who have been beating the drums of 5G hype.

While I've been skeptical that 5G will "immediately change everything," it is clear that 5G will change media consumption, entertainment, and likely also remote working habits.

"SK Telecom will continuously develop innovative contents and services specially designed and optimized for 5G network to provide differentiated experiences to our 5G subscribers," said Ryu Young-sang, Vice President and Head of MNO Business of SK Telecom.

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