IPTV business emerges as cash cow for mobile carriers

By a2016032

Published : May 12, 2017 - 09:44 Updated : May 12, 2017 - 09:44

South Korean mobile carriers' Internet-based TV businesses have emerged as their stable source of profit on the back of an increase in the number of subscribers, data by the companies showed Friday.

The country's three mobile carriers -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- saw sales from their Internet protocol television business jump 10 percent to 20 percent in the first quarter of this year from a year ago, according to the data based on their first-quarter earnings reports.

(Yonhap)

KT's sales from its media business, which include the IPTV sector expanded 10.2 percent on-year to 424.3 billion won ($375 million), with the top line of SK Telecom's IPTV segment soaring 21.7 percent to 235.6 billion won. LG Uplus saw its IPTV sales surging 18.4 percent on-year to 170 billion won.

The companies' brisk IPTV sales were attributed to a steady increase in the number of subscribers.

KT saw the number of its IPTV subscribers gain 7.3 percent on-year to 7.16 million as of end-March with SK's membership increasing 12.2 percent to 4.06 percent. LG Uplus saw the number of subscribers jump 15.6 percent to 3.19 million.

"The growth pace of the IPTV business has been continuing thanks to a rise in the number of prime subscribers and increased platform earnings," said Shin kwang-suk, KT's chief financial officer, during a conference call on April 28 after its earnings report.

Industry sources said the number of IPTV subscribers has nearly caught up with that of cable TV subscribers.

The combined number of IPTV subscribers came to 14.41 million as of the end of March this year, compared with 14.5 million cable TV subscribers at the end of last year.

Yet market watchers forecast the number of IPTV subscribers won't overhaul that of cable TV viewers.

"The so-called subscriber crossover is unlikely to happen as the paid TV market is already oversaturated despite a sustained increase in the number of IPTV subscribers," an expert said. (Yonhap)