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Apple's iPhone 5 launch in Seoul to boost LTE expansion
SEOUL, Dec 06, 2012 (Xinhua via COMTEX) --
Apple's iPhone 5 launch in Seoul will
boost the expansion of long-term evolution (LTE) subscribers in
South Korea as seen in the massive preorders for the LTE-based
smartphone, a global credit rating agency said Thursday.
"The launch of iPhone 5 in Korea, which officially begins
tomorrow, is credit positive for KT and SK Telecom because it
provides the companies with an opportunity to boost their LTE
subscriber base and average revenue per user (APRU)," Serena Won,
an analyst at Moody's in Hong Kong, said in a report.
According to SK Telecom, the country's No.1 mobile operator,
the 50,000 units that it had allotted for online preorders were
sold out last Saturday, while KT said the number of customers who
placed preorders surged to 200,000 last Sunday.
The two major wireless carriers began last Friday accepting
preorders for iPhone 5 that supports 4G wireless services, or LTE
technology. The arrival of the iPhone 5 will give both KT and SK
Telecom a distinct advantage over the third mobile operator LG
Uplus, whose LTE service has successfully lured customers from KT
and SK Telecom, said Won.
According to the telecom operators, there were around 3.4
million iPhone users in Seoul as of October 2012, accounting for
around 11 percent of the country's 31.4 million smartphone users.
A large number of smartphone users have not yet switched to LTE
platforms, thus presenting an attractive opportunity for KT and SK
Telecom.
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