Consumer satisfaction with the three major mobile carriers slipped slightly over the past year. In particular, complaints about "personal information leaks" surged in the wake of the SK Telecom SIM data breach, driving the overall rate of complaints and damage experiences to more than double.
The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) on the 3rd released the results of a mobile telecommunications service consumer satisfaction survey of 1,800 people, including 1,490 subscribers of the three major carriers and 310 budget phone subscribers. According to the survey, the average overall satisfaction score for the three major carriers was 3.37 points, down 0.10 points from last year's 3.47.
By operator, LG Uplus scored highest at 3.54, followed by KT at 3.46 and SK Telecom at 3.23. Last year, SK Telecom ranked first with 3.55, but this year it fell to the bottom, completely reversing the rankings. The survey was conducted from July 24 to Aug. 6, so it captured the impact of the April SK Telecom SIM data breach but did not reflect the KT small-amount payment incident that surfaced in late August.
Among six items in the service use process, satisfaction with "customer response" was highest at 3.77. In contrast, the "information security" rating, including efforts to protect personal information, stood at 3.22, a relatively low score.
Among users of the three major carriers, 420 consumers experienced complaints or damage, accounting for 28.2% of the total. That is more than double last year's 13.7%. Among complaint types, "personal information leaks" were most common at 50%, followed by "insufficient service quality" (29.3%) and "penalties for terminating or changing contracts" (25.5%).
Comparing satisfaction between the three major carriers and budget phones, the carriers led in additional benefits such as membership and partnership services, while budget phones had stronger competitiveness in usage fees and the range of plan choices. The Korea Consumer Agency (KCA) plans to ask carriers to improve services based on the survey results, including strengthening security to protect personal information and expanding benefits for long-term and high-value customers.