Forecast: Fibre to drive South Korea fixed broadband service revenue
November 2, 2026



South Korea’s fixed broadband service revenue is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 0.8 per cent over the forecast period 2026-2031, driven by migration of cable and xDSL users to fibre and growing uptake of gigabit-speed fibre plans, reveals GlobalData, the intelligence and productivity platform.

GlobalData’s South Korea Fixed Services Forecast (Q3-2026) reveals that fixed broadband service revenue is forecast to increase from $3.7 billion in 2026 to $3.9 billion in 2031. Residential fixed broadband access lines will increase at a CAGR of 0.7 per cent over the forecast period, taking household broadband penetration to 99.3 per cent in 2031, as operators migrate customers to gigabit plans bundled with Wi-Fi 7 routers for streaming, gaming and smart-home needs.


For instance, SK Broadband launched Giga Wi-Fi 7 router in January 2026, offering wireless speeds of up to 2.88Gbps and wired speeds of up to 2.5Gbps, while LG U+ was the first South Korean operator to offer a Wi-Fi 7 router supporting the 6GHz band.

Business fixed broadband services revenue will grow at a modest 0.4 per cent CAGR over 2026-2031, held back by a decline in business average revenue per subscriber (ARPS), even as broadband lines grow at 1.9 per cent CAGR. To protect revenue, operators are packaging connectivity with other services. For example, SK Broadband teamed up with payment and point-of-sale provider “Toss Place” in June 2026 to bundle internet with payment services for small merchants.

Srikanth Vaidya, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Fibre will remain the backbone of South Korea’s fixed broadband services market, accounting for about 92 per cent in 2026 and expected to increase to 95 per cent by 2031, as legacy cable and xDSL connections continue to decline.

KT, the country’s largest fixed broadband operator with a 41 per cent share of broadband lines in 2026, continues to strengthen its position through security-led offerings such as Total Ansim Internet and Homecam Ansim, and its Wi-Fi 7-enabled KT Wi-Fi 7D router.

Vaidya concludes: “Revenue growth will remain modest, driven mainly by incremental line additions and the shift to fibre. Residential ARPS is forecast to stay broadly flat through 2031, while business ARPS comes under pressure. Operators will therefore rely on Wi-Fi 7, AI-enabled home network services, security add-ons and fixed-mobile bundles to protect ARPS in a highly saturated and competitive market.”