LG U+ store in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, on the 26th of last month. A customer of the same nationality sat in front of Nguyen Thi Zhong, a Vietnamese employee. It was not a mobile phone opening, but a customer who came to listen to an explanation of an unfamiliar Korean pricing plan. Nguyen Thijung, who has been living in Korea for seven years, is mainly in charge of providing communication counseling to foreigners he has learned from multicultural center activities and local communities and even connecting mobile phones to the opening of mobile phones. Nguyen Thijung said, “Most of the time, they come after checking if they are reliable.” Hwang Sun-guk, head of the Anyang Shinhan Bank branch in Anyang-dong, LG Uplus, said, “Foreign customers value trust and often visit several times, build relationships, and sign up.”
The atmosphere was different at the foreign specialty store near Daelim Station in Seoul on the 2nd. The store was full of Chinese counseling even though it had just opened. More than 15 people visited during the reporter’s half-hour stay. In addition to the opening of mobile phones, there were also a line of customers asking for help with online orders from the recovery of China’s representative messenger WeChat login. This store accounts for 90% of Chinese customers, so all employees can consult in Chinese. Koo Bon-hyung, head of LG Uplus’ commercial analysis team, said, “Language and trust are important in the foreign target market, so customer relationships and follow-up management are more important than rates.”
Ahead of the era of 3 million foreigners staying in Korea, three mobile telecommunication companies have entered the competition to secure foreign customers one after another. From the launch of a dedicated pricing plan to strengthening a specialized counseling system, it is eager to attract new customers.
According to the domestic telecommunications industry on the 12th, SK Telecom recently launched a series of “Easy” pricing plan aimed at foreigners with temporary residence visas (D·E) such as study abroad, employment, and training. Seven years after suspending new subscriptions in 2019, the company has released foreign-specific products again, and the rates consist of four types, ranging from 39,000 won to 69,000 won, depending on the data capacity. If you link international calls to the “00700 Free 10/20” product, which can be used at the same rate as domestic calls, you can also get a 50% discount on usage fees.
“In the past, foreigners with D and E visas and long-term residence visas could join the same pricing plan as Koreans,” a SKT official said. “However, in order to resolve the digital gap between foreigners who are eligible for temporary stay, such as international students and employed workers, whose inflow into Korea is increasing recently, we have released a dedicated pricing plan that reflects their characteristics of use such as text, voice, and data.” In fact, the number of foreign students staying in Korea this year reached a record 300,000 as of last year, and the number of foreigners staying in employment status is also increasing to 600,000.
KT introduced three types of pricing plan “5G Welcome” for foreigners living in Korea in April, and introduced “Multilingual Artificial Intelligence (AI) Counselors” in its stores for the first time in the industry in June. It supports more than 20 languages, including English, Chinese, Thai, and Vietnamese, so that foreign customers can receive pricing plan, subscription procedures, and membership benefits in their own languages. An official from KT said, “After piloting in three specialized stores in the Seoul metropolitan area, Ansan, Hyehwa, and Suwon in March, the number of stores currently applied has been increased to 20.”
Recently, it has joined hands with the Mongolian Trade and Development Bank (TDB) and Woori Bank to develop specialized communication and financial services for Mongolians. It is mainly planning a package service that combines opening a financial account and a mobile pricing plan. In addition, the standards have been partially relaxed so that only Mongolians can open a postpaid payment only with a passport before issuing an alien registration card in a dedicated pricing plan.
LG U+ reorganized its sales system this year, focusing on 16 stores specializing in foreigners. Along with 12 in the metropolitan area, specialized stores were set up in areas where foreigners were concentrated, such as Gimhae, Asan, Jincheon, and Yeongam, to strengthen foreign language counseling and multilingual guidance materials. The company planned to expand the number of foreign-friendly stores to 67 last year, but changed its route when the number of foreign promotional materials increased to the front of the store, causing adverse effects that Korean customers felt burdened. Instead, it selects areas with a clear concentration of foreigners and operates them as specialized stores, focusing on translation documents and placement of employees who can speak foreign languages. Prior to this, in July last year, it released seven types of pricing plan exclusively for foreigners.
An official from the telecommunications industry said, “Foreign workers often choose expensive unlimited pricing plan. This is because they enjoy watching videos or games by connecting their smartphone data to their laptop instead of installing the Internet separately in their accommodation.” He then analyzed, “Unexpectedly, there are many customers who prefer the latest smartphones, so telecommunication companies are paying attention to the foreign customer base.”
[Reporter Ko Minseo / Reporter Park Sungbae]
