In a store in downtown Seoul, an SK Telecom (SKT) notice indicates that the stock of SIM cards is depleted. SK Telecom has announced plans to implement a ‘SIM format’ (tentative name) method by next month, in which they will change the SIM software. This initiative is in response to recent hacking incidents that have led to a shortage of SIM card stock, resulting in anticipated delays for replacements. The company aims to offer a solution that provides the same effectiveness as a SIM card replacement without changing the physical SIM.
Today (29th), SK Telecom released a statement saying, “We will leverage all of our development capabilities to minimize customer inconvenience,” and “We are developing a new method to change SIM software (SIM format) to address SIM stock shortages and the inconvenience to roaming customers through the mobilization of our network infrastructure center and development capabilities.”
They also stated that, unlike the traditional approach of physically replacing an old SIM card with a new one, the developing method will virtually update the existing SIM information, providing equivalent results to an actual SIM replacement. They predict that this could reduce the time required for traditional replacements and minimize customer inconvenience, such as app reset and data backup, associated with physical SIM replacements. However, the SIM format change would still require a visit to a store for system matching tasks, with full implementation expected by mid-May.
SK Telecom has begun accepting reservations for SIM replacements at nearby stores through an online reservation system starting yesterday (28th). However, SK Telecom currently has a stock of 1 million SIM cards, with plans to secure an additional 5 million by the end of May. Despite these efforts, daily replacement capacities are limited due to the time required for each SIM swap.
Although SK Telecom proposes the SIM software update to minimize confusion, user anxiety remains high. According to telecommunications industry sources, 34,132 SKT subscribers switched to other carriers the previous day. It is estimated that 60% moved to KT and the remaining 40% to LG Uplus. Considering those switching to budget phone plans, the number of outgoing subscribers might be even larger.