Preparing for Surge in Traffic During Lunar New Year Holiday...Three Major Telecom Operators Launch Intensive Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Telecom companies expect data usage to reach an all-time high during the Lunar New Year holiday period and have entered a focused management system to provide stable communication services.

According to the industry on the 26th, SK Telecom forecasted that data usage will increase to 597.4TB per day during the Lunar New Year holiday due to a significant rise in AR, VR games, media viewing, and T-map usage. This is 24% higher than on weekdays. 5G data usage is expected to increase by more than 26.4% compared to weekdays.

On the day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the number of mobile communication service uses (attempted calls) such as calls, texts, and internet searches is expected to increase by 15.9% for 5G and 7.5% for LTE compared to normal days, and T-map usage is expected to increase by about 55.3%. International roaming is projected to increase by 27% compared to the previous year.

Accordingly, SK Telecom deployed 5,500 personnel from the 23rd to the 27th to operate a comprehensive control room and additionally expanded base station capacity at about 750 locations nationwide, including highways, national roads, airports, and terminals. At Incheon Airport, where travelers departing overseas gather during the Lunar New Year holiday, 24 sets of 5G equipment and 14 sets of LTE equipment were additionally installed.

KT designated about 970 locations as focused management base stations, including approximately 370 nationwide highways expected to be congested during the holiday, terminals, KTX·SRT stations, airports, and department stores where crowds are expected. 620 employees will be on emergency duty daily.

LG Uplus also entered an emergency operation system for special Lunar New Year network communication to ensure customers can smoothly use communication services such as data and voice. In particular, to respond to emergency situations, a comprehensive control room was opened at the Magok office building to begin a 24-hour intensive monitoring system. On-site personnel will be increased in important key areas, maintaining a constant readiness for dispatch.