*This content was translated by AI.
The three major telecommunications companies—SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus—announced on the 18th that they are activating special communication measures to prepare for increased data usage during the Chuseok holiday.
The telecom operators anticipate a significant surge in mobile traffic compared to normal times due to overlapping travel for ancestral visits and return trips, holiday greetings, video calls, and viewing of online video streaming services (OTT). They explained that they have pre-increased 5G and LTE base station capacity at transportation hubs such as highways, railway stations, airports, and bus terminals, and established a 24-hour monitoring system.
SK Telecom will coordinate regional control rooms centered on its comprehensive situation room from the 23rd to the 27th for five days. It will also activate its control system during the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, held from the 19th until the 4th of next month. During the holiday period, a total of 3,625 personnel—including maintenance partners and affiliated companies such as SK Broadband, SK O&NS, and Home & Services—will monitor communication networks nationwide.
On Chuseok itself, the 25th, hourly peak data usage is projected to increase by 10.3% compared to normal times. SK Telecom has completed pre-inspections of highways, national roads, grave sites, and tourist and leisure facilities, as well as base station capacity expansion. From the 24th to the 27th, it will offer free video calls and establish situation rooms in major services including T Map, A Dot, and PASS. Expecting a 25% increase in international roaming users, it is also strengthening cooperation with overseas operators.
SK Telecom, together with SK Broadband, will make early payments totaling 131.8 billion won to over 200 partner companies and more than 250 distribution channels. Including this payment, the total scale of early holiday payments this year amounts to 243.8 billion won.
KT has designated the period from the 23rd until the last day of the holiday as its "Network Focused Management Period." It has inspected service quality at major highways, KTX and SRT stations, airports, and bus terminals, and completed base station capacity optimization. Base stations in areas with high visitor concentrations, such as vacation spots, will be monitored 24 hours a day. Security monitoring is also being strengthened to prepare for smishing texts impersonating holiday gifts and cyberattacks.
Facility inspections have also been conducted in preparation for adverse weather conditions. KT verified the fastening status of outdoor base station antennas, poles, communication stations, utility poles, towers, and ground wires. To prepare for power outages, mobile generator vehicles and portable generators were deployed in advance at major national hubs.
Jeong Sun-il, Head of Network Operations Innovation at KT's Network Division, stated, "We have completed pre-inspections of communication facilities and quality optimization." He added, "We will activate a real-time emergency recovery system to respond immediately to weather disasters such as autumn typhoons."
LG Uplus is utilizing its AI-based autonomous network platform, 'AION' (AI ON), to respond to real-time traffic fluctuations. It has completed pre-inspections and quality optimization of base stations at highways, rest areas, KTX and SRT stations, bus terminals, and airports. In anticipation of increased viewership on U+tv and OTT services, it has also expanded cache server capacity.
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*This content was translated by AI.
