South Korea’s largest mobile operator SK Telecom (SKT) reported stable results for Q1, but revenue growth stalled as increased tariff discounts and the elimination of sign up fees pushed mobile service turnover lower.

The operator’s net income in Q1 increased 2 per cent year-on-year to KRW583.5 billion ($502 million), which it credited to equity gains from its chip unit SK Hynix.

Total revenue edged up 0.1 per cent to KRW4.23 trillion, but mobile service turnover fell 0.7 per cent to KRW2.69 trillion due to an increased number of subscribers choosing contract-based mobile discounts, the elimination of sign up fees and lower interconnection charges.

Interconnection revenue fell 9 per cent to KRW173 billion.

The operator said despite these revenue decreasing factors, its mobile business posted a steady performance, with strong growth in LTE subscribers and mobile data usage per user.

Its LTE user base increased 10.9 per cent year-on-year to 21.7 million at end-March, accounting for 72.6 per cent of total subscribers. It had nearly 1 million net additions over the past year, ending the quarter with 29.8 million mobile subscribers.

ARPU declined 2.9 per cent to KRW35,959 ($30.95).

SKT said its subsidiaries posted improved results in the first quarter. The number of SK Broadband IPTV subscribers grew 12.2 per cent year-on-year to 4.07 million and IPTV revenue increased 21.7 per cent to KRW236 billion. SK Planet, which transformed into a commerce platform company through a business restructuring in 2016, recorded reduced losses in the first quarter.