SK Telecom activates Chuseok response plan, pays W131.8b early to partners

SK Telecom said it will activate a special communications response system to handle the surge in traffic expected during the Chuseok holiday period. The company will also make an early payment of 131.8 billion won ($96.3 million) to its partners as part of a mutual-growth initiative.

SK Telecom said Friday it will operate a special communications plan from Wednesday through Sunday, centered on a main situation room linked to regional control centers across the country. The company will also run a parallel monitoring system during the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, which run from Saturday through Oct. 4.

During the holiday period, SK Telecom plans to deploy a cumulative total of 3,625 personnel from affiliates including SK Broadband, SK O&S and Home & Service, as well as operations and maintenance partners, to monitor the national telecommunications network around the clock.

The company also plans to deploy AI-based network management solutions. Its in-house wireless network AI management system, A-One, will analyze traffic and equipment conditions across the national network in real time, while the core network AI integrated control system, Spider, will continuously monitor for anomalies.

SK Telecom expects peak hourly data usage on Chuseok day, Thursday, to rise 10.3 percent compared with normal periods. Reflecting the trend of traffic concentrating at tourism destinations, the company has completed pre-inspections and capacity upgrades to 5G and LTE base stations in high-traffic areas including highways, national roads, ancestral grave sites, and tourism and resort facilities.

SK Telecom will also offer free video calling from Wednesday through Sunday. Major services including T map, Aidot and PASS will each operate situation rooms to respond to traffic fluctuations.

The company is also reinforcing its international roaming framework. SK Telecom expects the number of international roaming users to increase by as much as 25 percent compared with normal periods. It plans to strengthen cooperation with overseas carriers and operate a 24-hour security monitoring system through its integrated security control center.

In addition, SK Telecom and SK Broadband will make an early payment of 131.8 billion won to more than 200 partner companies and more than 250 retail networks responsible for network construction, maintenance and service operations ahead of the Chuseok holiday.

SK Telecom said it has made early payments ahead of the Lunar New Year and Chuseok holidays each year to ease the financial burden on its partners. Including this payment, the total amount paid early ahead of this year's holidays comes to 243.8 billion won.