More than half a million new mobile subs in 1Q

South Korea’s mobile operators added 574,000 new customers between them in the three months ended 31 March, taking the total number of subscribers in the country to 38.9 million. Market leader SK Telecom added 203,000 new users in the first quarter, second-placed KTF Corp added 237,000 and the market’s smallest player LG Telecom added 135,000. All three operators are optimistic about contract customer growth this year, partly due to the introduction of the legal subsidisation of handsets for the first time this month.