4 days Ago By Korea Bizwire
South Korea’s budget mobile phone market is rebounding in early 2025, buoyed by new low-cost 5G data plans and increased government support. (Image courtesy of Yonhap) SEOUL, April 16, (Korea Bizwire) — After a brief slowdown at the end of 2024, South Korea’s budget mobile phone market is rebounding in early 2025, buoyed by new low-cost 5G data plans and increased government support. According to data released Monday by the Ministry of Science and ICT, the number of mobile subscriptions under budget carriers — known locally as “altteul phones” — rose to 9.
65 million in February 2025, up from 9.49 million in December 2024 and 9.56 million in January.
The market share of budget carriers reached 16.9 percent, marking a 3.4 percentage point increase from a year earlier.
The turnaround follows the government’s announcement in January that bolstering the budget telecom sector would be a key policy focus for 2025. As part of that initiative, the ministry pledged to introduce 5G data plans offering 20GB of monthly data at prices in the 10,000 won ($7.40) range.
Although these plans officially launched at the end of February, the announcement alone appears to have boosted consumer expectations and demand. According to the “Altteul Phone Hub” portal, nine such 5G plans are now available, though they lack Quality of Service (QoS) features that would allow continued data usage at reduced speeds after the cap is reached. South Korea’s financial sector is also making inroads into the budget telecom market.
KB Kookmin Bank recently launched a 19,500-won plan using SK Telecom’s network, and Woori Bank is preparing to roll out its own altteul service after registering as a telecom operator earlier this month. As more players enter the space and competition intensifies, the budget mobile market is poised to further expand throughout 2025. Kevin Lee ( kevinlee@koreabizwire.
com ).
