The number of mobile phone users in South Korea has exceeded a record 40 million for the first time, industry sources said Sunday.
SK Telecom Co., KTF and LG Telecom Ltd. said that as of Friday they had slightly more than 40.01 million people in the country with registered mobile phones. This number was reached 22 years after analogue-type mobile phone service was first introduced in 1984 and 10 years after the country switched to the code division multiple access (CDMA) system.
By company, market leader SK Telecom had more than 20.17 million subscribers followed by 12.86 million for KTF and 6.97 million for LG Telecom. South Korea's population stands at around 48 million.
Industry sources said the rise in numbers is phenomenal when compared to just 2,658 people who bought mobile phones in 1984.
The number of mobile users jumped to 2.89 million with the introduction of CDMA service in 1996 and surpassed the 10 million mark in June 1998.
This then doubled to 20 million in August 1999 before hitting 30 million in March 2003.
Seoul, Nov. 26 (Yonhap News)
Number of mobile phone users in S. Korea tops 40 mln |
