LTE smartphone users on the rise

The number of LTE (long-term evolution) smartphone subscribers accounted for 44.6 percent of the total smartphone users in November last year, up 15.9 percentage points from the first half of 2012, a survey said.

The number of 3G handset subscribers constitutes the remaining 55.4 percent, down 15.9 percentage points over the cited period, according to the survey of 4,000 smartphone users aged between 12 and 59.

The survey, jointly released by the Internet Development Agency and the Korea Communications Commission, said that about 36 percent of the smartphone users surveyed planned to replace their phones with LTE handsets within a year.

By Ayaka Erin Tobari

Park Sae-jin swatchsjp@ajunews.com