Latest news with #LimBong-ho
Korea Herald
24-06-2025
- Business
- Korea Herald
SK Telecom resumes sign-ups after hacking fallout, braces for subsidy showdown
Carrier lost over 500,000 users during USIM crisis; rivals, new foldables to intensify competition SK Telecom resumed new subscriber sign-ups on Tuesday, 50 days after halting operations due to a massive USIM card hacking scandal, a move expected to reignite competition between Korea's top three mobile carriers. 'Until now, we focused on USIM replacements. We will provide seamless services to new customers through close cooperation with our nationwide sales network starting today,' Lim Bong-ho, head of the MNO business division at SK Telecom, said in a press briefing in Seoul on Tuesday. He also announced that more than 2,600 offline retail stores nationwide have reopened new subscription services. The Ministry of Science and ICT on Monday announced it would lift SK Telecom's suspension on new customer recruitment, saying the company has secured sufficient USIM inventory to meet demand beyond replacement needs. The ministry also cited the stabilization of the telecom company's revised USIM replacement reservation system, introduced on Friday. According to SK Telecom, an average of 30,000 customers per day replaced their USIM cards through Monday, with the cumulative total reaching 9.34 million as of midnight Tuesday. Industry sources said SK Telecom is widely expected to roll out aggressive subsidies to offset recent business setbacks. The company has reportedly lost some 607,000 subscribers between April 22 -- when the USIM hacking incident came to light -- and Sunday. Even accounting for new subscribers gained through third-party vendors, SK Telecom saw a net loss of about 518,000 subscribers. Market watchers believe the exodus may have pushed the mobile carrier's market share below 40 percent. 'For now, our priority is to focus on normalizing operations,' Lim said. Two other mobile carriers -- KT Corp. and LG Uplus -- are likely to respond in kind. The impending repeal of the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act, set for July 22, will remove caps on subsidies. The act came into force in 2014 to keep fierce competition to woo customers with hefty subsidies in check. Additionally, Samsung Electronics is gearing up for the unveiling of its Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Z Flip 7 models next month, further fueling competition. However, some sources believe SK Telecom may not be able to commit 'astronomical' sums to marketing, given the financial burden of free USIM replacements and compensation for dealer losses. Commenting on third-quarter marketing spend, Lim said, 'There are multiple events lined up in the third quarter -- including the repeal of the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act next month, the Galaxy foldable phones launch and the iPhone release in September. It's difficult to predict marketing costs at this stage as they will depend on market dynamics.' An industry source who requested anonymity said, 'Without the final report from the joint government-private task force investigating the cyberattack, SK Telecom is unlikely to disclose detailed (marketing) plans at this time.' Meanwhile, the ICT ministry said it aims to deliver the final findings of its investigation by the end of this month. SK Telecom is expected to announce compensation measures and plans to prevent similar incidents once the report is released.
Korea Herald
14-05-2025
- Korea Herald
SK Telecom completes USIM protection service for all users
SK Telecom said Wednesday that all 25 million of its users have signed up for the company's USIM Protection Service following a major data breach, including those using international roaming. 'Since the USIM protection service for overseas users began on May 12, we have completed the enrollment of all users by this morning. Essentially, all customers have now been covered,' said Ryu Jung-hwan, head of the network infrastructure center at SK Telecom, during a press briefing on Wednesday. The company confirmed that the service has also been applied to all customers currently staying abroad. Following one of the worst hacking incidents in its history, SK Telecom has scrambled to respond, including enrolling all users to its USIM protection service. The company asserts that the protection service effectively blocks the use of illegally cloned USIM cards on other devices, providing the same level of protection as physically replacing the USIM. Previously, international roaming users were unable to join the protection system, but SK Telecom has since this Monday upgraded it to include them. SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile carrier that nearly half of Korea's population uses, disclosed that it had suffered a cyberattack and subsequent data breach of customer's USIM data on April 18. The data breach, caused by a malware attack inside a key internal system called the Home Subscriber Server, resulted in the leak of about 9.7 gigabytes of data. As of now, the exact cause and the identity of the attacker have not been officially confirmed. The mobile carrier has also offered users the option to switch their USIM cards for free since April 28, but the swap process has been hampered by overwhelming demand and a supply crunch. According to the firm, some 16.9 million users have switched their USIM cards as of Wednesday. SK Telecom said it plans to secure around 5 million additional USIM cards this month and another 5 million in June, vowing to speed up the replacement process. To ease public concern, the company on Sunday introduced the new USIM reset solution that allows subscribers to update specific user identification from USIM chips without the need to physically replace the chip. At the briefing, SK Telecom also said the USIM card replacement service at airports will end after Thursday, as not any people are using the service there. 'The staff stationed at the airport will be reassigned to our 2,600 T World Stores nationwide to accelerate USIM replacement services (at the stores),' said Lim Bong-ho, head of mobile network operator business. From as early as next week, the company will also launch on-site USIM replacement or reset services for customers living in remote or island regions. The service will also be expanded to vulnerable groups, including older adults who have difficulties with technology.
