During KT's penalty waiver period, the number of subscribers who moved to other carriers surpassed 210,000, exceeding the scale of defections seen during SK Telecom's penalty waiver last year.
According to the telecom industry on Jan. 11, from Dec. 31 last year, when KT's penalty waiver began, to the 10th of this month, 216,203 subscribers left KT. This is higher than the roughly 166,000 who moved to other carriers during the 10-day penalty waiver that SK Telecom implemented in July last year.
In particular, on the 10th, a Saturday, demand for switching carriers was concentrated, and KT's daily subscriber defections topped 30,000 for the first time. The number of subscribers who left KT that day alone was tallied at 33,305.
On the same day, the total number of mobile number porting cases was 63,651. Among those leaving KT, 22,193 moved to SK Telecom, 8,077 moved to LG Uplus, and 3,035 switched to budget carriers.
KT's penalty waiver measure runs through the 13th. With only two business days left, there is a possibility that additional defection demand will surge up to the last minute.