View source for LG Uplus

{{Short description|South Korean cellular carrier}}
{{distinguish|U Mobile|Plus (telecommunications Poland)|E-Plus}}
{{Infobox company
| name = LG Uplus Corp.
| logo = LG U+ CI.svg
| logo_size = 200px
| logo_caption = Current logo as of December 30, 2014
| image =
| image_caption =
| trading_name = <!-- d/b/a/, doing business as - if different from legal name above -->
| native_name = {{langx|ko|LG유플러스}}
| native_name_lang = ko
| romanized_name =
| former type =
| type = [[Public company|Public]]
| traded_as = {{kse|032640}}
| industry = [[Telecommunications]]
| genre = <!-- Only used with media and publishing companies -->
| fate =
| predecessor = LG Telecom
| successor =
| foundation = {{Start date and age|1996|07|11}}
| founder =
| defunct = <!-- {{End date|YYYY|MM|DD}} -->
| location_city = [[Yongsan District|Yongsan-gu]], [[Seoul]]
| location_country = South Korea
| locations = <!-- Number of locations, stores, offices, etc. -->
| area_served = South Korea
| key_people = Hwang Hyeon Sik ([[chief executive officer|CEO]])
| products = {{ubl|[[Mobile phone|Mobile telephony]]|[[Wireless broadband]] services}}
| production =
| services =
| revenue = KRW 13.42 trillion (2020)
| operating_income = KRW 886.2 billion (2020)
| net_income =
| aum =
| assets =
| equity =
| owner = [[LG Corporation]] (37%)
| num_employees = 10,221 <small>(as of June, 2021)</small>
| parent =
| divisions = [[Studio X+U]]
| subsid = AIN Teleservice<br />CS Leader
| homepage = {{URL|https://lguplus.com}}
| footnotes =
| intl =
| bodystyle =
}}
'''LG Uplus Corp.''' ({{langx|ko|LG유플러스}}; stylized as '''LG U<sup>+</sup>''', {{kse|032640}}) is a South Korean [[mobile network operator]] owned by [[LG Corporation]]. It was formerly known as '''LG Telecom''', but changed to its current name on July 1, 2010.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2010-05-13 |title=<nowiki>LG텔레콤, ''LG 유플러스''로 사명 변경</nowiki> |language=ko |url=https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/715277 |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200918202514/https://www.nocutnews.co.kr/news/715277 |archive-date=2020-09-18}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=LG유플러스 |date=2010-06-29 |title=통합LG텔레콤, 임시주총 열어 'LG유플러스'로 상호 변경 승인 |language=ko |url=http://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=482535 |url-status=live |access-date=2022-03-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220323222730/https://www.newswire.co.kr/newsRead.php?no=482535 |archive-date=2022-03-23}}</ref> LG Uplus is the [[List of mobile network operators of the Asia Pacific region#South Korea|second-largest wireless carrier in South Korea]], with 18.411 million subscribers as of Q4 2023.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.netmanias.com/en/korea-ict-market-data/korea-ict-market/1411/ |title=Korea Communication Market Data |publisher=Netmanias |date=30 May 2018 |access-date=30 May 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.statista.com/statistics/700467/south-korea-mobile-phone-market-share/|title=South Korea: Mobile phone carrier market share 2020}}</ref>
The carrier adopted its current name after the July 2010 merger with another two LG telecommunication subsidiaries, Dacom and Powercom.
LG U<sup>+</sup> offers a variety of mobile services. GeForce Now distributes by U<sup>+</sup> 5G in South Korea, and MusicON was discontinued music service for Feature Phones. Kakaonavi recently partnered with LG U+{{when|date=March 2022}}.
==History==
After a decision of the state-owned [[KT Corporation|Korea Telecom]] to sell its cellular business to private investors in 1994, the South Korean government opened the telecommunications sector up to competition. Korea Telecom would later relaunch its cellular business with KT Freetel in 1996. LG entered the wireless communications market in 1996 by acquiring a [[Code division multiple access|CDMA]] license in June and founded a new carrier named LG Telecom, which built a nationwide digital cellular network. In October 1997, [[Personal Communications Service|PCS]] cellular service was launched.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.uplus.co.kr/cmg/engl/coif/pelu/RetrievePeLuIntro.hpi?mid=2606|title=About LG U<sup>+</sup>|publisher=LG U<sup>+</sup>|access-date=2015-09-16|archive-date=2018-09-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180909185147/http://www.uplus.co.kr/cmg/engl/coif/pelu/RetrievePeLuIntro.hpi?mid=2606|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In March 1998, in an effort to make itself stand out from the bigger, more established players in the market, LG Telecom launched the world's first commercial [[IS-95|cdmaOne]] data service using [[Personal Communications Service|PCS]] technology.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cdg.org/resources/cdma_history.asp|title=CDMA History|publisher=CDG}}</ref>
To better position itself to compete in the bundled services market, LG Telecom acquired LG Dacom, a fixed-line communications networks and Internet-related service provider and LG Powercom, one of Korea's largest [[Internet service provider|ISP]]s.<ref>{{cite web|date=October 15, 2009|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aoIhRjYaNV24|title=LG Telecom to Merge With Dacom, Powercom on Jan. 1 (Update1)|publisher=Bloomberg L.P.|author=Cho, Kevin}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=October 12, 2009|url=http://www.telecomasia.net/content/lg-merge-korean-telecom-operations|publisher=Telecom Asia|title=LG to merge Korean telecom operations|author=Clark, Robert}}</ref> On July 1, 2010, LG Telecom switched to its current name, "LG U<sup>+</sup>."
In 2022, the company achieved an annual operating profit of 1 trillion won for the first time, but in 2023, due to an increase in capital expenditure ([[CAPEX]]) reached 998 billion won ($751.8 million), a decrease of 7.7% from 2022. Meanwhile, revenue rose 3.4% to 14.37 trillion won and service revenue excluding handset sales rose to 11.64 trillion won (up 2% from 2022). The total number of wireless subscribers or [[mobile network operator]] (MNO) and [[List of mobile virtual network operators in South Korea|mobile virtual network operator]] (MVNO) subscribers was about 25.1 million (up 26.1%), and the number of [[5G]] subscribers reached 7.04 million (up 16.2%), exceeding half of the total number of LG Uplus subscribers.<ref>{{Cite web|language=en|url=https://m.pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2024&no=102620|title=LG Uplus’s 2023 OP declines despite revenue growth
|website=Pulse|access-date=2024-03-31|archive-date=2024-03-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240331193845/https://m.pulsenews.co.kr/view.php?year=2024&no=102620}}</ref>
==Services==
===Wireless===
As of 2012 LG Uplus customers can receive the services on any of radio frequency band assigned, one or more of radio interfaces.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! Radio frequency range !! Frequency band !! Frequency<br />width<br />(MHz) !! Generation !! Radio Interface !! License !! Notes
|-
|850&nbsp;MHz
Uplink: 839–849
Downlink: 884–894
|5
|2x10
|[[3.9G]]/[[4G]]
|[[LTE (telecommunication)|LTE]]/[[LTE Advanced|LTE-A]]
|
|
|-
|2100&nbsp;MHz
Uplink: 1920–1940
Downlink: 2110–2130
|1
|2x20
|[[3.9G]]/[[4G]]
|[[LTE (telecommunication)|LTE]]/[[LTE Advanced|LTE-A]]
|auction 44.55billion won
|
|-
|2600&nbsp;MHz
Uplink: 2520–2540
Downlink: 2640–2660
|7
|2x20
|[[3.9G]]/[[4G]]
|[[LTE (telecommunication)|LTE]]/[[LTE Advanced|LTE-A]]
|auction 479 billion won
|
|-
| 3500&nbsp;MHz
3400–3500
| n78 || 100 || [[5G]]|| [[5G NR|NR]]|| ||
|}
{{resize|60%|''Source: Slowtime''}}
In July 2006, the South Korean government canceled LG Telecom's license for 2.1&nbsp;GHz [[W-CDMA]] bandwidth after the company opted not to develop the technology. LG Telecom will instead continue investing and upgrading in its [[CDMA2000]] [[Evolution-Data Optimized|EV-DO]] Rev. A network.
In July 2011, LG U+ launched its [[LTE (telecommunication)|LTE]] network, nationwide coverage is expected to be complete by March 2012.
On July 17, 2013, LG Uplus launched LTE-A service with the introduction of the [[Galaxy S4]] LTE-A, the world's first "100% LTE" smartphone that can utilize data, voice and text with LTE and not fall back to CDMA. Starting from 2014 LG Uplus plans to release only "100% LTE" phones.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gsma.com/membership/lg-uplus-the-first-in-the-world-to-commercialize-the-100-lte-system-the-releasing-of-100-lte-smart-mobile-phone-galaxy-s4-lte-a|title=LG Uplus, the first in the world to commercialize the '100% LTE' system|date=July 18, 2013|access-date=September 25, 2013}}</ref>
===Landline===
In 2010 LG Telecom acquired Dacom Corp., a network services firm that operated Hanaro Telecom's fixed line networks. The new affiliate helped LG enter the landline communications market.
===Broadband===
Launched in September 2005, U+Home is an optic LAN service that provides fast speeds of up to 100&nbsp;Mbit/s.
===IPTV===
U+TV was launched in December 2007, providing various two-way services, terrestrial and HD broadcasting.
===Business-to-business sales ===
After merging LG DACOM in 2010, It was succeeded to LG Uplus one of the largest B2B service area. It is account for about 20% of gross sales by the role of cash-cow. It has not only traditional cable industry, also non-traditional one like electronic payment and so on.
=== U+ Mobile TV ===
LG Uplus' 'U+ Mobile TV' has been broadcasting 10 channels of [[CJ ENM]]'s affiliates in real time. However, the two companies failed to narrow the gap over the fee for using the U+ mobile TV service. After all, on June 11, 2021, CJ ENM's affiliated channels stopped transmission on U+ Mobile TV.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Park|first=Sae-jeong|date=2021-06-12|title=LGU+, CJ ENM channel eventually stops transmission|url=http://biz.heraldcorp.com/view.php?ud=20210612000009|access-date=2021-06-12|website=헤럴드경제|language=ko}}</ref>
In October 2022, LG Uplus launched the Studio X+U division as the original content provider for U+ Mobile TV.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.100ssd.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=92286|title=LG유플러스, 콘텐츠 전문 브랜드 ‘STUDIO X+U’ 공개|trans-title=LG Uplus, unveils content specialized brand ‘STUDIO X+U’|author=Kim, In-ha|date=October 27, 2022|language=ko|website=백세시대 (100ssd.co.kr)|accessdate=February 11, 2024}}</ref>
==== Dramas ====
Source: [https://www.studioxplusu.com/works/list Studio X+U]
* ''Sometimes - For Sale, Because We Just Broke Up'' (썸타임즈 - 헤어져서 팝니다; 2023)
* ''[[High Cookie]]'' (하이쿠키; 2023)
* ''[[Night Has Come]]'' (밤이 되었습니다; 2023)
* ''[[Branding in Seongsu]]'' (브랜딩 인 성수동; 2024)
* ''[[Tarot (TV series)|Tarot]]'' (타로: 일곱 장의 이야기; 2024)
* ''[[No Way Out: The Roulette]]'' (노 웨이 아웃 : 더 룰렛; 2024)
* ''[[Fragile (TV series)|Fragile]]'' (프래자일; 2024)
* ''[[Friendly Rivalry]]'' (선의의 경쟁; 2025)
* ''[[Twelve (TV series)|Twelve]]'' (트웰브; 2025)
==Controversies==
In January and February 2023, LG U+ was hit by a series of DDoS attacks that interrupted data services and resulted in personal information leakage. On February 16, 2023, LG U+ CEO Hwang Hyeon-sik apologized for the company's insufficient cybersecurity infrastructure and stated that their cybersecurity spending would increase by 100 billion won ($77.9 million) per year.<ref name="koreatimes_uplus_apology">{{cite web |title=LG Uplus apologizes for personal information leak, service failure |url=https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/tech/2023/02/419_345585.html |website=[[The Korea Times]] |access-date=4 April 2023 |language=en |date=16 February 2023}}</ref>
==See also==
* [[LG Electronics]]
* [[SK Telecom]]
* [[Korea Communications Commission]]
* {{ill|LG Hellovision|ko|LG헬로비전}}
== References ==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* {{Official website|https://www.uplus.co.kr}}
* [https://www.telegeography.com/products/commsupdate/articles/2012/04/02/lg-uplus-completes-nationwide-lte-rollout LG Uplus page on TeleGeography]
{{Finance links
|name= LG Uplus
|google= 032640:KRX
|yahoo= 032640.KS
|bloomberg= 032640:KS
|reuters= 032640.KS
}}
{{LG Corporation}}
{{Mobile network operators of South Korea}}
{{KOSPI 200}}
{{Telecommunications}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:LG Corporation]]
[[Category:Companies listed on the Korea Exchange]]
[[Category:Companies in the KOSPI 200]]
[[Category:Companies based in Seoul]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies established in 1996]]
[[Category:South Korean companies established in 1996]]
[[Category:Mobile phone companies of South Korea]]
[[Category:South Korean brands]]
[[Category:Telecommunications companies of South Korea]]