[Monitor] Dominance of 3 mobile carriers under scrutiny

With debate brewing over ways to lower the mobile phone expenses, focus is also being paid to the dominance of the three major carriers in the industry.

According to industry sources, the mobile market is currently shared by SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus at a ratio of 43.2 percent, 25.7 percent and 19.6 percent, respectively, based on the shares of applicants to mobile phone services as of the end of April. It does not include subscribers to sub-brands. This three-way dominance has been unchanged for the past 15 years, as the market entry barrier remains high mostly due to expensive costs of installing network.

Civic groups have claimed that the three players offer similar subscription fees that enable them to maintain their market shares.