SK Telecom (SKT) recorded increased uptake of 5G plans and steady revenue growth in the third quarter, driven by strong gains across all its new business units.

The Korean operator added 915,000 5G subscribers, the largest increase since 1.01 million in Q3 2019, bringing its total to 4.26 million at end-September, 14.7 per cent of its overall customer base. It attributed the gains to improved coverage and the launch of a 5G cloud gaming platform.

Net profit jumped 44.2 per cent year-on-year to KRW398 billion ($353.3 million) due in large part to equity gains from subsidiary SK Hynix, while consolidated revenue increased 3.7 per cent to KRW4.73 trillion. Mobile service revenue inched up 1.7 per cent to KRW2.5 trillion. The combined turnover of its media, security and commerce businesses grew 18.9 per cent to KRW1.53 trillion.

In a statement, CFO Yoon Poong-young said its efforts to increase corporate value are “turning into meaningful and tangible results”, pointing to strong gains in 5G and double-digit growth for each of its new businesses.

The company said 400,000 customers had signed up to subscription-based video ringback tone service V Coloring by end-October, around a month after the launch, and it received inquiries about the service from major operators in the Asia-Pacific region.

Overall subscribers increased 3.2 per cent year-on-year to 29.03 million, with ARPU of KRW30,051 down 2.3 per cent.

Capex fell to KRW245 billion from KRW661 billion in Q3 2019.