Toss Mobile, a new budget telecom arm of South Korean fintech service provider Viva Republica Inc., said that it has attracted 150,000 pre-applications ahead of its official launch this week.
Toss Mobile, which will open Monday, is a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) that aims at providing affordable subscription plans and offering various services in connection to its existing payment platforms.
Viva Republica currently provides banking, securities, and mobile payment services under the brand Toss.
Of the new applicants, those in their 20s accounted for 40 percent, followed by those in their 30s and 40s with 28 percent and 21 percent, respectively.
Around 73 percent of the new customers were subscribing to existing MVNOs, the company added.
MVNOs refer to the telecom service providers that rent networks from existing mobile carriers. As MVNOs can save on costs in operating networks, they usually provide users with more affordable plans.
A growing number of South Koreans have been switching from traditional players -- SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. -- to MVNOs in search of budget subscription plans.
The number of people using services provided by MVNOs came to 12,638,794 as of November 2022, accounting for around 16 percent of all telecom users, according to the latest data provided by the Ministry of Science and ICT.
SK Telecom accounted for 39.9 percent, trailed by KT and LG Uplus with 22.8 percent and 20.7 percent, respectively, in November.