USIM Protection Service Enrollment to Be Completed by May 7
New Subscriptions at Retail Stores Drop to One-Fourth
SK Telecom, which is currently responding to a hacking incident, announced on the morning of May 6 that as of 9 a.m., 1.04 million subscribers had replaced their USIM cards. The company also reported that 24.11 million people had subscribed to the 'USIM Protection Service,' which SKT has explained provides the same effect as a USIM replacement. This service prevents the activation of new mobile phones using leaked USIM information.
SKT made this announcement during a daily briefing on the server hacking incident held at its headquarters in Euljiro, Seoul, on the same day. The briefing was attended by Kim Heesub, Head of the PR Center; Ryu Junghwan, Head of the Network Infrastructure Center; and Lim Bongho, Head of the MNO Business Division.
The number of USIM replacement reservation requests increased by 100,000 since the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 7.8 million reservations. Kim stated, "We apologize that there are still many subscribers waiting for USIM replacement," and added, "We will do our best to address this as quickly as possible."
Automatic enrollment in the USIM Protection Service is expected to be completed by May 7. SKT explained that, out of its 25 million subscribers (including SKT network MVNO users), most eligible subscribers are expected to be automatically enrolled by May 7, except for those who need to use international roaming services and therefore cannot be automatically enrolled. At a press conference on May 2, SKT CEO Yoo Youngsang stated that the company would automatically provide the USIM Protection Service to all users, including digitally vulnerable groups. Starting May 14, SKT is developing a solution that will allow both USIM protection and international roaming to be applied simultaneously.
In addition, SKT announced that, in connection with the suspension of new subscriptions and number portability at directly operated and authorized stores since the previous day, new customer acquisition at other retail outlets (not directly operated or authorized) has also dropped to one-fourth of normal levels. Lim stated, "At this time, we are not considering any business compensation for retail outlets that handle all three mobile carriers in relation to the decrease in new subscriptions." To secure enough USIM stock, SKT had suspended new subscriptions and number portability at approximately 2,600 T World stores nationwide since the previous day.
Meanwhile, SKT reiterated that it has not yet decided on a policy regarding the waiver of cancellation penalties for subscribers.
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