SK Telecom will stop accepting new subscribers until special measures related to SIM cards are put in place.

At a briefing session held at SKT Tower in Euljiro, Seoul on the 2nd, SKT CEO Yoo Young-sang announced additional customer protection measures, including: △suspending new subscriber recruitment at approximately 2,600 T World stores nationwide, △implementing automatic subscription to the SIM protection service, △securing inventory for smooth SIM replacement, △expanding support for SIM replacement at the airport for overseas travelers, and △SIM protection service 2.0 that can be used even when roaming.

First of all, SKT has decided to stop accepting new subscriptions and number transfers at approximately 2,600 T World stores nationwide starting on the 5th at the latest after making preparations. This is a measure to ensure that customers can receive replacement SIM cards as soon as possible in a situation where there is a shortage of SIM cards.

Until special measures regarding SIM cards are put in place, all T World stores will stop consulting with new customers and focus only on SIM card replacement for in-store customers. SKT also plans to compensate for any store sales losses that occur during this period.

In addition, SKT actively accepted the social demand for consideration for the digitally vulnerable class and reported the terms of use to the Ministry of Science and ICT so that starting today (the 2nd), all customers can subscribe to the SIM card protection service without having to apply separately.

The SIM card protection service is a free additional service that essentially blocks the use of illegally copied SIM cards in other devices, providing the same effect as replacing the SIM card.

As of now, a total of 14.42 million SKT customers have completed the SIM protection service subscription. For the remaining 8.5 million customers, automatic subscriptions will be processed sequentially at a rate of up to 1.2 million per day, depending on system capacity, until the 14th.

The automatic subscription target is customers who have not yet subscribed to the SIM protection service or replaced their SIM card since the infringement incident. Among these, priority will be given to seniors aged 75 or older and disabled customers. Automatic subscription will be implemented only for SKT customers. We plan to discuss automatic subscription with mobile carriers that use the SKT network.

In addition, in order to resolve customer inconveniences related to SIM card replacement, we will actively secure SIM card inventory and supply them quickly. We will sequentially secure and supply 5 million SIM cards each in May and June, a total of 10 million SIM cards, and pursue additional securing after July.

To this end, we plan to establish a hotline with SIM card manufacturers to expand production and shorten the supply schedule, and also hold regular face-to-face meetings with the management of major SIM card manufacturers. We also plan to request cooperation from global chipset manufacturers to shorten the supply schedule. Secured SIM cards are being supplied to the field immediately, even on weekends and holidays.

In addition, special support measures have been prepared for overseas travelers. In order to facilitate the smooth replacement of SIM cards for customers planning to travel abroad during this holiday season, the number of seats in the roaming centers at Incheon Airport and Gimpo Airport will be doubled and the processing capacity will be tripled until the 6th. In the case of Incheon Airport, 11 additional seats will be added in the duty-free zone starting today (the 2nd) to provide convenience to customers. In addition, approximately 100 head office employees will be deployed on-site to assist with the replacement of SIM cards and provide service support.

Lastly, SKT is also preparing 'SIM Protection Service 2.0' that can be used by overseas roaming customers and will be implemented starting on the 14th. You can sign up for SIM Protection Service 2.0 through online/mobile T World or customer service center. If you are already signed up for SIM Protection Service, it will be applied automatically without a separate application.

Meanwhile, SKT, taking into account the high level of public interest in this incident, decided to conduct a daily briefing on customer information protection starting with today's announcement.

The daily briefing will transparently disclose statistics related to customer protection, such as the status of SIM card replacement and reservations, the number of SIM card protection service subscribers, and roaming service information, and will also explain newly added protection measures. It will also provide explanations to correct unnecessary misunderstandings related to this incident.

SKT CEO Yoo Young-sang said, “I would like to once again offer my sincere apologies to our customers and society for the anxiety and inconvenience they have experienced during the process of recovering from this accident,” and “SKT will do its utmost to protect our customers and prevent damage by taking all necessary measures going forward.”