Hi all.
We continue to study how much mobile communications cost in other countries in order to better understand through this prism how life is for a Russian subscriber.
In previous materials we studied France, Latvia and Kyrgyzstan. I recommend that you familiarize yourself with these materials. France surprised with 5G tariffs, which include traffic and unlimited calls throughout Europe, as well as in French overseas territories (French Guinea and others), Latvia surprised with unlimited 5G Internet. In Kyrgyzstan, so far there is only 4G and quite expensive mobile communications, but operators offer large packages of 100 GB with unlimited services. By “expensive communications” I mean that tariffs cost approximately 2% of the average monthly salary. For comparison, in Russia (as in most countries of the world) subscribers spend 0.5-1.75% of the average salary, depending on the region. For example, the tariff costs 900 rubles, and in Moscow, according to Rosstat, the average salary for June 2024 is 156,427 rubles, that is, the average Muscovite spends 0.6% of their income on mobile communications.
I saw a comment that we needed a text about what it’s like in Honduras. I agree, Honduras worries me too, but today I propose to talk about South Korea.
This is an interesting country that has managed, without possessing fossil resources and vegetating in poverty, to reinvent itself. Currently, 62% of the 51.26 million population belong to the middle class category, which is higher than in the United States and on par with Europe. The median salary in South Korea is almost 3,000 US dollars (4 million Korean won), that is, 300,000 rubles. For comparison, the median salary in Russia is 59,256 rubles, according to SberIndex.
There are 3 main mobile operators in the country: SK Telecom, LG U+ and Korea Telecom (KT). By the way, I noticed that in most countries of the world the telecom market is represented by 3 main operators: AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon in the USA; China Unicom, China Telecom, and China Mobile in China; MTN, Vodacom and Cell C in South Africa; MTS, Megafon and Beeline in Russia.
However, the peculiarity of South Korea is that the mobility of subscribers from operator to operator is low. And the telephone number becomes a kind of personal identification number. Through this number the identity of a citizen of the country is identified.
I suggest you consider the cost of tariffs with the help of SK Telecom. This is the largest operator, which, by the way, many of us are familiar with through the company SK hynix, which produces semiconductors and memory. By the way, foreigners are recommended to buy a contract from Korea Telecom, since it has a separate call center for foreigners with 17 languages to choose from.
How much does mobile communication cost in South Korea?
SK Telecom has some pretty amazing rates. Thus, the operator sells 5G tariffs separately and 4G LTE/3G tariffs separately. Although this is probably logical. If the subscriber does not need 5G or has a smartphone that does not support this network standard, then there is no need to overpay.
Further – more. There is a wide range of tariffs for 5G. Finally! This is marketing! This isn’t France, where a plan might be called “120GB 5G” and that’s it. Thus, the line of the most luxurious 5G tariffs is called 5GX and is divided into Platinum, Premium, Prime Plus, Prime, Regular Plus and Regular. The most expensive Platinum plan costs 125,000 KRW ($92.64, or 9,264 rubles), and the cheapest 5GX Regular costs 69,000 KRW ($51.14, or 5,114 rubles).
If you do not take the two cheapest plans, the Korean operator offers its subscribers unlimited 5G Internet. This is a rather interesting case, since the capital of South Korea, Seoul, is home to 10 million people in 2024, and together with the agglomeration – as many as 26 million people. That is, Seoul can be compared with Moscow and St. Petersburg. In the case of Latvia, which also has unlimited 5G Internet, this behavior of operators was justified by the country’s low population (1.87 million people). However, using the example of South Korea, we see how the concept of an unlimited 5G network can be implemented in a densely populated country.
The website of the operator SK Telecom is not very intuitive. It looks like the operator is not particularly interested in giving subscribers information. For example, 4 out of 6 tariffs provide unlimited Internet and unlimited calls and SMS. I would like to ask: why then are the prices different?
By the way, please note that the operator offers subscribers network-based video calls (that is, no third-party messenger is needed).
The difference in prices comes from related services. Thus, the operator regulates how many gigabytes a subscriber can distribute from a smartphone via Wi-Fi, or give to another subscriber, or give to another gadget (for example, a smart watch). Also interesting are the restrictions on mVolP (these are calls like Skype and Zoom).
There is also a difference in prices due to additional services. For example, you can get a 100% discount on an additional “line”, that is, connect a smart watch to the tariff for free and receive calls to it.
Subscribers also get access to T Universe – this is a “universe of subscriptions”, which includes both digital and offline services. This is how it is described on the official website:
SK Telecom already works closely with partners from various fields and industries, including online and offline shopping (Amazon, 11st, Emart, etc.), food and beverage (Starbucks, Paris Baguette, Baedal Minjok, etc.). ), digital services (Google). One, Wavve, Flo, V Coloring, Xbox Game Pass, Spoon Radio, etc.), mobility services (T Map, Modoo Shuttle, etc.), cosmetics (Toun 28), flower subscription (Kukka), pet products (About Pet), insurance (AIA Insurance), nutritional supplements (Biopublic) and education (DoBrain). The company is currently in discussions with approximately 100 other companies to further expand its subscription service offerings.
For example, in the case of Amazon, the subscriber receives free international shipping and discount coupons. A Google subscription comes with 100 GB of cloud storage and YouTube Premium. Starbucks is free coffee, a similar story with pet stores that may give pet food or a discount. Accordingly, the subscriber, depending on the tariff, can either select several options from T Universe for free, or receive a discount on the purchase of these options.
The operator also offers 4G plans. These tariffs, by the way, are not much cheaper than 5G tariffs.
There’s also a wide range of age-based plans. Moreover, it is curious that people under 34 years of age are considered youth. However, the discounts for such “youth” are relatively small – about 10%. There are also tariff plans for children under 12 years old and for teenagers (up to 18 years old), as well as separate tariffs for seniors.
Interestingly, the elderly are people between 65 and 80 years old. That is, after 80 all discounts are canceled and you have to pay the full price again. It can be assumed that this approach is based on the average life expectancy, which in South Korea is 83.64 years. However, it still looks a little offensive. It’s as if the operator is directly hinting to its subscribers what the end of the contract means.
Conclusion
In South Korea, the operator offers its subscribers unlimited 5G Internet at high speed (the country is in 4th place in the Ookla ranking). However, communication is objectively expensive. For the cheapest 5G tariff with unlimited data, subscribers pay about 2.5% of average monthly income. On the other hand, high subscription fees allow operators to actively develop mobile networks, offering subscribers unlimited 5G Internet.
South Korea can be used as a positive example to look up to. This is exactly what mobile communications in Russia can be like. Well, or at least in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Source: mobile-review.com
