South Korea's three major telecom carriers are accelerating their transformation with artificial intelligence at the core, following last year's personal data breach incidents. The strategy focuses on security and quality management for their saturated core telecom business while positioning AI as a new growth engine.
Divergent Results After Hacking Aftermath
SK Telecom disclosed Wednesday that its consolidated operating profit fell 41.1% year-on-year to 1.07 trillion won last year. Revenue declined 4.7% to 17.1 trillion won. Subscriber defections and increased customer compensation costs following the massive data breach weighed on performance.
LG Uplus, in contrast, showed relatively stable results. Consolidated operating profit rose 3.4% to 892.1 billion won, while revenue grew 5.7% to 15.45 trillion won—the first time annual revenue exceeded 15 trillion won. Total mobile subscriptions, combining MNO and MVNO services, expanded to 30.71 million lines. The company may surpass 20% market share in the first half of this year.
KT, set to announce earnings on the 10th, is expected to report annual revenue of approximately 28 trillion won. Combined revenue for the three carriers is projected to exceed 60 trillion won.
AI Data Center Revenue Surge Takes Hold
Each company's AI strategy significantly influenced last year's results. For SK Telecom, AI-related revenue provided a buffer despite core business weakness from the hacking incident. AI investments are expected to accelerate once the breach aftermath subsides.
SK Telecom's AI data center revenue surged 34.9% year-on-year to 519.9 billion won, marking the highest growth rate among its major businesses. Higher utilization rates at Seoul Gasan and Gyeonggi Yangju data centers, along with the Pangyo data center acquisition, drove the improvement. The company plans to expand its full-stack AI business using its Ulsan AI data center as a hub.
KT launched its proprietary AI model "Sota K" and is strengthening partnerships with global tech giants including Microsoft and Palantir. Related business results are expected to materialize in earnest starting next year. However, the impact of penalty-free contract terminations implemented in January will be reflected in first-quarter results.
LG Uplus also delivered results in the AI data center business. AIDC revenue within its enterprise infrastructure segment rose 18.4% to 422 billion won.