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Korea ranks No. 7 in per capita mobile data usage last year: report

Dec. 5, 2017 - 10:29 By Yonhap

South Korea ranked seventh in the world in terms of per capita mobile data usage last year among 41 major economies checked, a report said Tuesday.

The average South Korean used 4.6 gigabytes per month in 2016, according to the Digital Fuel Monitor report by Rewheel, a Finnish management consulting firm, based on a survey of 187 carriers.

Finland topped the list with 16.1 GB, followed by Latvia at 6.4 GB, Austria at 5.5 GB, Denmark and Sweden at 5.4 GB each, and Estonia at 5.1 GB.

Japan came in eighth at 3.9 GB, the United States ninth at 3.6 GB and Poland 10th at 2.9 GB.

A file photo of a group of people staging a rally in front of Korea Telecom in Seoul on May 18, 2017, to demand the mobile carrier lower mobile phone fees (Yonhap)

South Korean mobile carriers demand higher fees on the usage of mobile data than the average imposed by carriers in other countries, seen in the latest findings.

South Korean carriers collected 13.4 euros ($15.90) per 1 gigabyte of 4G LTE data in the smartphone 4G tariff pricing system, which provided up to 1,000 free calling minutes as of the end of November.

The amount was the highest, followed by Canada at 12.1 euros. The United States came in sixth at 9.6 euros, Japan 10th at 5.7 euros and Germany 13th at 5 euros.

South Koreans can purchase 0.3 gigabyte of 4G LTE data with 30 euros, 38th out of the 41 countries.

In the mobile broadband data-only tariff price, South Koreans can buy 22 GB of 4G LTE data with 30 euros, 33rd out of 41 countries. (Yonhap)