'010' 64.57 Million in 2032... 80% of Total
Demand Declines Due to Population Decrease Thereafter
Demand for 010 numbers is expected to peak in 2032, but due to population decline, it is unlikely that the numbers will be exhausted.
On the 4th, Choi Su-jin, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee (People Power Party), reported that according to the forecast for mobile phone number usage submitted by the Korea Information Society Development Institute, the demand for 010 numbers is expected to reach a maximum of 64.57 million in 2032 based on long-term modeling predictions.
This accounts for 80.7% of total usage. However, according to the research data, demand is expected to decrease after that due to population decline, so the risk of 010 numbers being exhausted is considered low.
The number of 010 numbers in use increased after COVID-19, reaching 63.7 million as of October last year. This represents 79.6% of the available number resources, marking an all-time high.
Currently, there are a total of 80 million 010 number resources (010-AYYY-YYYY), of which 73.92 million (92.4%) have been allocated to telecommunications operators.
The public opinion survey involved a total of 1,050 men and women aged 20 to 69 nationwide and was conducted online from October 17 to 20 last year. Recent environmental changes such as demand for dual/multi numbers including eSIM and the increase in foreign nationals entering the country were not reflected in the study.
Assembly member Choi Su-jin stated, "While the risk of depletion of 010 numbers is not high, the predictive model does not account for increased demand due to future multi-number usage and other measures," adding, "The government needs to carefully manage the limited mobile 010 number resources."
Meanwhile, the recovery of existing 01X (011, 016, 017, 018, 019) numbers was completed by SKT and KT in August 2022, and by LG Uplus in July last year. The recovery of 01X numbers was decided following the Ministry of Information and Communication's '010 Number Integration Policy' implemented in February 2022, which has been in effect since January 2004.
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