"25GB per Month is Enough..." The 'Uncomfortable Polarization' of Data Plans

5G Subscriber Actual Usage vs. Discrepancy
Telecom Companies Stick to Low and High-Priced Plans
"Need for Data Tiered Products"

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] As the number of 5G subscribers surpasses 20 million, it has been revealed that the three major telecom companies are only offering low-cost and high-cost plans, without providing mid-low and mid-high priced plans that match the actual usage levels of the public.

According to data requested by Kim Sang-hee, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the Democratic Party, from the Ministry of Science and ICT on the 16th, among the 5G plans currently available from the three major telecom companies combined, there are zero plans in the data range of 15GB or more but less than 100GB. Out of a total of 51 plans, there is not a single one in this range. By plan category, there are 23 plans under 15GB and 28 plans of 100GB or more including unlimited plans, showing a clear polarization. Unlimited plans account for 18 plans, making up 35% of the total. Although the under 15GB plans have somewhat increased since October last year with the launch of online-only plans, the data provision ranges only from 2 to 12GB, leading to evaluations that actual demand is low. Many of these plans also come with restrictions for children, teenagers, and people with disabilities.

This shows a significant gap compared to the actual data usage of 5G subscribers. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, since the commercialization of 5G services in April 2019 until December last year, the average monthly data usage per 5G smartphone subscriber was found to be 25.788GB. Considering that most 5G subscribers are signed up for plans of 100GB or more, it means they are paying for about 75GB of data every month without using it. The cheapest plans among the 100GB or more data plans are SK Telecom’s ‘5GX Regular’ (69,000 KRW), KT’s ‘5G Simple’ (69,000 KRW), and LG Uplus’s ‘5G Standard’ (75,000 KRW), starting at around 70,000 KRW. Since users pay for the full fee while using less than half of the basic data amount, there is considerable dissatisfaction.

Calls for mid-low priced 5G data plans have been consistently raised. During last year’s national audit, Assemblywoman Kim Sang-hee pointed out the need for "mid-low priced 5G plans and various data tier plans" from the three major telecom companies. As a solution to the absence of mid-tier plans, Kim recently proposed a bill actively allowing 5G service users’ data property rights. Although there are existing data sharing services, they come with many restrictions and have excessively low limits. The bill, submitted on the 14th, is a partial amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act that officially permits the rollover and sharing of data services. The main point is to allow unused data capacity each month to be rolled over to the next month and shared not only with subscribers of the same telecom company but also with subscribers of other telecom companies.