SK Telecom’s bottom-line improved in Q4 2022 on the back of growth in 5G subscribers, pay-TV users and enterprise revenue, with the operator forecasting an AI strategy to start to drive growth across various business segments this year.

In an earnings release, the operator stated it aims to improve profitability through increased operational efficiency and forecasts rising demand for data centre and cloud services.

Mobile service revenue rose 1.7 per cent year-on-year to KRW2.6 trillion ($2.1 billion), with ARPU flat at KRW30,495.

The operator added 3.5 million 5G subscribers to take total to 13.4 million, accounting for 44 per cent of its mobile user base of 30.5 million, which was up 2.5 per cent year-on-year.

LTE subscriber numbers fell by 2.5 million to 16.4 million.

Media business revenue grew 20.8 per cent KRW1.5 trillion.

Enterprise sales increased 9.7 per cent to KRW391.8 billion, driven by gains in its data centre and cloud businesses.

SK Broadband’s revenue increased 2.6 per cent to KRW4.2 trillion.

Net profit declined 60.8 per cent to KRW947.8 billion, attributed to the exclusion of equity gains from SK Hynix. Consolidated revenue increased 3.3 per cent to KRW17.3 trillion.

Full-year capex was flat at KRW3 trillion.