Households’ Communication Expenses on the Decline

South Korean households’ communication expenses are continuing to decrease as an increasing number of customers are using contract discounts. The expenses hit an all-time low whereas their data usage increased after the launch of commercial 5G services.

Statistics Korea announced on May 10 that South Korean households’ index indicating their mobile expenses reached a record low of 94 in April this year. The index fell for the 31st consecutive month after September 2017, when the contract discount rate was adjusted from 20 percent to 25 percent.

According to Statistics Korea, those households’ communication expenses fell 10.7 percent from 2017 to 2019. During the period, their communication service expenses, meaning their mobile expenses, fell from 105,500 won to 94,000 won.

The households’ mobile data usage almost doubled during the same period. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, their total data traffic increased from 323,078 TB to 639,468 TB from September 2017 to March this year.

“Households’ mobile expenses decreased with more and more consumers opting for contract discounts, discounts provided for vulnerable households and calling plans launched for unlimited data usage,” said an industry source, adding that the trend is continuing even after the commercialization of 5G services.