LG Uplus Corp. store in Seoul [Photo by Yonhap]

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LG Uplus Corp., one of South Korea’s three telecommunications providers, launched a fifth-generation mid-rate plan after SK telecom Co.’s preceding moves last month, sparking competition among Korean telecom service providers.

The move is also in response to the Korean government’s policy to diversify mobile plans according to age and category, which has been promoted since the emergency meeting on economic affairs in February.

LG Uplus said Tuesday that it will additionally launch four types of 5G intermediate rate plans and two types of online-only plans to provide more options to consumers. The new mid-rate plan is different from existing plans as it provides full optional, 25-percent contract discounts and improved speed after using up the given mobile data. The company will also offer free service to young job-seekers who visit job-related sites and increase life cycle benefits such as a monthly 5 gigabyte data voucher to parents with kids under one-year old.

From Tuesday, LG Uplus will release a medium plan available to all consumers with four data options - 50GB, 80GB, 95GB and 125GB - for 60,000 won ($45.4) to 70,000 won per month. It provides more options from the current offers of 31GB for 61,000 won a month and 150GB for 75,000 won a month.

It also provides an increased amount of data with an option of 25-percent contract discounts whereas SK telecom allows users to buy more data when needed on a 24GB data plan.

“We expect to see a significant number of customers switching to LG Uplus for lower prices and differentiated plans,” said Lee Jae-won, head of LG Uplus’ MX Innovation Group.

The 95GB 68,000 won and 125GB 70,000 won monthly plans, in particular, will offer the quality of service of up to 3 to 5 megabits per second (Mbps) after the given data is exhausted. Users can watch a high-definition video with fair quality at 3Mbps, which means unlimited data is practically offered at the 60,000 won range.

Lee Jae-won, head of LG Uplus’ MX Innovation Group, presents on the fifth-generation mid-rate plan [Photo provided by LG Uplus]

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LG Uplus has also decided to provide wholesale services for the new data options to mobile virtual network operators (MVNO) using its network from April 30. This will allow budget phone users on low-cost plans of MVNO services to also use the 5G intermediate rate plan with data of 50GB or more from the end of this month for a monthly plan of 30,000 won to 40,000 won.

The mobile carrier will also release two types of 5G Direct plans available on its official online mall uplus.com from May. They provide 80GB and 95GB of data at 46,000 won and 47,500 won a month, respectively, 30 percent cheaper than regular plans. The combined discounts with acquaintances worth up to 14,000 won each month for online plans worth 59,000 won or above will be expanded to customers in their 30s from the existing 20s. The purpose is to allow the Millennials and Generation Z, who are mostly single-person households, to enjoy discount benefits with their friends, couples and colleagues.

The Ministry of Science and ICT also said that it plans to “promote publicity in consultation with operators so that users can change their mobile plans and actually reduce telecommunication costs.”

The number of senior plans will also be increased to three from one. Consumers aged 65 or older will be able to sign up for a type A plan that provides data of 10GB for 45,000 won a month. The plan will be automatically converted to a B-type plan, which is 2,000 won cheaper, when they turn 70 years old. In July, a youth plan will be released to offer up to 60GB more data than the existing plan as young consumers are known to use 3.4 times more data than other age groups. LG Uplus will also provide additional data for tethering and sharing of 30GB each month to customers in their 20s using the 5G unlimited data online plan for youth worth 59,000 won or higher.

The company will also offer data vouchers to families with kids under two years for the first time in the telecommunications industry. In the second half of this year, a parent customer using the LG Uplus mobile service will be eligible for a 5GB data voucher every month after submitting a birth certificate or family relation certificate to an LG Uplus store or a customer center until their child turns 24 months old.

KT Corp., a rival of LG Uplus, is also preparing to launch a similar mobile plan. “We are engaged in talks with government agencies to launch a more differentiated plan,” according to KT. “We are making every effort to launch it shortly.”