South Korean telco KT saw operating income jump 38.5% from the year prior during its second-quarter thanks to high demand for 5G and content services.
On Tuesday, the company said it recorded 6 trillion won in sales, and 476 billion won in operating income during the second quarter. It is an increase of 2.6% and 38.5% respectively from the previous year.
KT said it saw growth across the board with its content and 5G services performing especially well during the quarter.
Its IPTV service saw sales increase 14.5% from the previous year. The telco credited the growth to stay-at-home culture and homeschooling trend caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
KT also saw its average revenue per subscriber increase 3% compared to the previous year during the quarter. The telco said this was from its increasing number of 5G subscribers. As of the second quarter, the company had accumulated 5.01 million 5G subscribers, it said.
Its data centre and cloud services for enterprises also performed relatively well, seeing a 6.2% sales increase from the previous year.
Meanwhile, compatriot telco LG Uplus last week also reported year-on-year growth during the second quarter.
The company posted 3.34 trillion won in sales and 268 billion won in operating income, an increase of 2.2% and 12%, respectively, from the previous year.
LG Uplus also credited its 5G services for the uptick. Its total number of 5G subscribers as of the end of the second quarter was 3.72 million, an increase of 108% from the previous year. The telco said it expected to beat its annual target of 4.5 million 5G subscribers before year-end.
Its solutions for enterprises, such as smart factories, saw a 34.3% year-on-year sales increase during the quarter, LG Uplus added.
Meanwhile, last month, KT launched its 5G standalone service, becoming the first carrier in the country to offer mobile services wholly on 5G networks.
South Korea is planning to allocate more 5G spectrum in November to promote 5G-related services.
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Source: Networking - zdnet.com
