South Korea’s largest mobile carrier SK Telecom has won its bid for two new bandwidths intended for faster and broader data services, the government said Monday.

The company secured a pair of bandwidth blocs in the 2.6 GHz band for 950 billion won ($832 million) and 327 billion won, respectively, according to the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning.


Its main rival KT has won a bid for the 1.8 GHz band for 451 billion won and the country’s smallest mobile carrier LG Uplus took the 2.1 GHz one for 381 billion won.

Ministry officials said the allocation of the new frequencies is expected to help encourage infrastructure investment needed to meet growing mobile traffic and upgrade services.

“Through the bandwidths supplied this time, the world’s top-level mobile environment will be created, public convenience will be enhanced and ICT-related investments will be boosted,” said Jin Seong-bae, a senior ministry official. (Yonhap)