Issue Slowing 5G migration, tariff-cut pressure and security breaches constrain telecom growth

Summary

KISDI warns that several forces could limit growth in Korea's telecommunications services market. The recently observed slowdown in migration to 5G and pressure to lower tariffs may act as factors that restrict the market's growth. In its 2026 outlook the institute also expects wireless revenue of the three mobile carriers to slow because of the effects of security breach incidents. Because the pace of 5G migration is slowing, growth in wireless revenue is expected to decline slightly over the medium term. The issue for the sector is how to sustain revenue when subscriber migration is maturing and pricing and trust pressures are rising.