SK Telecom explained that as a protective measure following the SIM hacking incident, the number of subscribers to the SIM protection service is expected to exceed 20 million during the day.
Kim Hee-seob, head of the SK Telecom PR Center, noted during a briefing held at Samhwa Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul, that "the SIM protection service is automatically subscribed, and currently 19.91 million people are enrolled, and there will be 20 million after today."
SK Telecom began prioritizing automatic subscriptions to the SIM protection service for customers over 75 years old and those with disabilities from the 2nd. The SIM protection service is a security system that blocks attempts to change devices by cloning the SIM. Currently, it cannot be used redundantly while roaming abroad.
Kim noted, "As of yesterday, 956,000 people have replaced their SIMs, which isn't a large number, but we are trying to apply it as much as possible," adding, "Many are out at the airport roaming center, so we are providing as much support there as possible." He also mentioned, "On average, about 200,000 people apply for SIM replacement reservations each day, and up to now, about 7.6 million people have applied."
With the golden holiday approaching, it was reported that about 20,000 SIMs were replaced at the airport yesterday, which was anticipated to have the highest number of outbound travelers. Since the day before, SK Telecom has deployed 120 headquarter employees to support the SIM replacement operations at Incheon Airport's roaming center.
Regarding the excess stock of SIM replacements, Kim stated, "The stock will be 5 million until the end of May," adding, "Starting tomorrow, 2,600 T world stores will focus on the SIM replacement work."
The company stated regarding the schedule for halting new subscriptions that "there is a start date, but the end date has not yet been determined," and emphasized, "We will give room to decide based on various situations."
Kim said regarding the legal response to the class action lawsuit stemming from the incident, "We will naturally bear any criticism or punishment for neglecting our duties," adding, "Since an investigation is underway regarding that part, it is difficult to comment further at this time."