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By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
The ever-fiercer competition among mobile operators is flooding the market with ``free" handsets ― but it won't be as free as it may appear unless consumers check the plan that comes with it and do some related math before signing up.
Although the marketing frenzy has consumers picking up new phones at a fast clip, mobile users are advised to take a harder look at the contracts that could see them paying a lot more than they bargained for.
Phone shops and online shopping sites are pitching free phone deals to lure customers at a time when spending is tight. And most of the offers exempt users from subscription fees, reflecting the splurge on promotional expenses by mobile carriers.
Predictably, the recent battle is spurred by the rivalry between SK Telecom, the top mobile operator with more than a 50 percent market share, and KTF, the No. 2 carrier.
KTF is currently involved in merger talks with parent company, KT, the country's biggest telephone company, which will finally allow it to shed its size complex to its bitter industry rival ― and expanding its mobile customer base ahead of the expected marriage seems a priority.
SK Telecom, though, has no intention of giving an inch. The carrier's popular handset models ranged between 300,000 to 500,000 won on the shelves just last month.
The best-selling phones included Samsung Electronics' SPH-390 (341,000 won), SPH-W460 (388,300 won) and SPH-W510 (528,000 won), LG Electronics' LG-SH240 (335,500 won) and LG-SH400 (418,000 won) and Motorola's Z8M (422,400 won).
However, the products are now among the 20 SK Telecom handsets that are currently included in free deals.
KTF is responding by expanding its rebates and bulking up its own free deals. Samsung's SPH-W2700 (445,500 won) and LG's LG-KH2200 (429,000 won) are all provided free of handset prices and subscription fees to KTF customers.
The intensifying marketing battle is yielding results on paper. SK Telecom acquired about 450,000 new customers in January, representing nearly 14-percent growth from the 395,000 in December.
KTF also garnered 298,000 new subscribers last month, representing more than 12-percent growth from December.
In comparison, LG Telecom, the smallest mobile carrier that hasn't gotten into the free-phone frenzy, attracted only 180,000 new subscribers in January, which represented a decline from the previous month.
Although customers are clearly attracted by the idea of not paying for the ultra-cool gadgets they bring home, the deals could be at the expense of lavish contracts that may severely erode wallets.
Some free phone offers are basically installment pay plans, as dealers would require the subscribers to spend a certain amount of money, say 30,000 to 40,000 won per month, under a 24-month contract.
Thus, the user has to pay for the phone in its entirety when he or she is forced to switch handsets before the expiration of the contract.
Other free phone deals limit the type of contract subscribers could use, loading them with expensive rate deals and added-value services that will make the monthly phone bills look unfortunate.
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