Telecom carriers leverage lifestyle apps to lock in subscribers

[Photo by Lee Seung-hwan]

Major Korean telecommunications providers - SK telecom Co., KT Corp., and LG Uplus Corp. - are enhancing shopping, parenting, and community service applications to retain their subscribers.

Android-operated smartphones like the Samsung Galaxy series come pre-installed with apps from these telecom companies. Some of these apps are essential and cannot be removed, while others can be deleted at the user‘s discretion.

NHN DATA Corp.’s Dighty, a data management solution platform, analyzed over 70 default and telecom carrier-provided apps from the three major telecom companies on Android phones. The analysis, which was released on Thursday, found that lifestyle apps tailored to different age groups and demographics dominated the landscape.

The app with the highest male user percentage (78 percent) was LG Uplus’ Sporki, a content app providing major sports news and updates. In contrast, apps with a higher female user base included children’s phone usage and location tracking apps.

Significant differences were also found in app usage by age bracket. Users in their twenties favored content apps like KT’s Blythe (14 percent), a platform for webtoons and web novels, while users aged 60 and above preferred data service-related apps.

Dighty noted that telecom companies offer various service apps beyond telecommunications, including content, data, location information, and camera-related apps, while also using these apps to promote campaigns, deliver targeted advertisements, and provide customized customer experiences.

SK telecom is emphasizing its artificial intelligence-based personal assistant service, Adot. Launched in September 2023, the service now boasts 4.55 million users as of late June 2024 while offering features like real-time translation, call summaries, and sleep analysis.

KT targets the younger generation with its cultural lifestyle app, Ybox, which offers data benefits and goods shopping, as well as KT Family Box, which shares family schedules and provides discount vouchers. Ybox has 1.9 million active users, including customers from other telecom companies, and offers extensive content from e-books to music streaming, according to KT.

LG Uplus is promoting unique apps tailored to user interests. Notable examples include Fordong, which caters to pet households with expert consultations, community features, and lodging reservations, and the children-targeted metaverse app KidsTopia.

LG Uplus has also expanded its subscription platform services by enhancing the perks for its existing subscription package on its media subscription platform on Thursday. Launched in November 2023, this subscription platform has gained strong support from the younger generation. The latest package update includes various vouchers combined with a one-month subscription to streaming services of their choice.