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Over 50,000 customers left KT between December 31 of the previous year and the 3rd, covering a period of four days. KT, which experienced an unauthorized micro-payment issue, exempted cancellation fees for users who terminated or were in the process of terminating their contracts from September 1 of the previous year to January 13 of this year.

As per industry reports on the 4th, 52,661 customers had left KT between December 31 of the previous year and the 3rd, when the cancellation fee exemption was introduced.

Out of these, 32,336 subscribers transitioned to SK Telecom, making up roughly 61.4% of all customers who left KT over the four-day span. The number of those who shifted to LG Uplus was 12,939 (24.5%), while 7,386 (14%) moved to MVNOs, which are mobile virtual network operators.

Significantly, on the 3rd—during the first weekend following the removal of the termination fee—21,027 customers departed from KT. This was the first instance where the daily count surpassed 20,000 since the fee waiver was implemented.

In the meantime, SK Telecom is working to bring back subscribers through a campaign aimed at luring back customers who left following last year’s cyber attack. The initiative reinstates subscription years and membership tiers to their prior status for those who re-subscribed after canceling between April 19 and July 14 of the previous year, when SK Telecom did not charge exit fees.

Analysts in the industry expect that the battle for gaining new subscribers among the three leading telecommunications firms will become more fierce because of KT’s loss of customers.