South Korea's three mobile carriers are supporting family spring outings with various events for Family Month. They are also tightening traffic management to reflect rising demand for outings.

The telecommunications industry said on May 4 that SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus are rolling out a series of May events targeting family customers. They include forest experience events for long-term customers, campaigns to send thank-you messages to family members and exhibition programs. The industry sees it as a strategy to broaden touchpoints with families and raise brand familiarity in line with spring outing demand.

SKT is offering customers who have stayed with the company for 10 years or more a chance to apply for 'Forest Vacation Day', a nature-based relaxation event. Forest Vacation Day lets families make memories through a guided forest walk, children's forest experiences and family recreation at the Forest Camp inside Everland. SKT is holding four sessions this year and will run the fifth and sixth sessions on May 17 and 18. Customers who want to apply can do so on the T Membership app until May 5.

SKT customers who plan to gift a mobile phone to their children for Children's Day may also be interested in the 'family phone sharing' option. It is a free add-on service available when a parent, as the legal guardian, passes a device they used to a child aged 13 or under. Subscribers receive benefits for 1 year: a 2GB data coupon each month, unlimited free family roaming uses, and up to six 50 percent discounts on T Universe Pass subscription fees.

KT has set up a banner event for customers who want to send thank-you messages to their families. Through the end of this month, it will draw 50 winners from customers who activate mobile phones, USIMs, internet or TV through KT.com and give them a chance to post a message banner. The winning messages will be posted on KT.com in July. KT is also holding an event offering Naver Pay worth 30,000 won or a Daiso mobile gift certificate if a family member continues using a phone that was used at KT for at least 30 days within the past 3 years.

Those looking for an exhibition outing may also visit 'KT Onmaru' in Gwanghwamun, central Seoul. It is a space where visitors can view the evolution of communications technology over 140 years at a glance. KT Onmaru will be open on Children's Day on May 5 and on Buddha's Birthday on May 25. Admission is free, and visitors can join a professional docent tour program or view freely. Docent tours can be booked via Naver.

KT is also stepping up network inspections. It carried out call quality optimisation and wireless network checks at about 500 places where visitor numbers are expected to rise. Jeong Seon-il (정선일), an executive director at KT's Network Operation Innovation Division, said the company would continuously check network conditions to minimise customer inconvenience.

LG Uplus has newly launched a dedicated app, 'U+tv Mobile', that lets users access its IPTV service, U+tv, on mobile devices. It is an IPTV-only mobile service that integrates features from content search and viewing to linking with a TV. LG Uplus expects the more intuitive process from content discovery to viewing to improve convenience for IPTV viewers.

LG Uplus will hold a Lego-run event on May 16. It is a marathon in which participants run a 5 km lakeside route around Jungdo in Chuncheon, Gangwon province, alongside Lego characters. LG Uplus said it will continue expanding customer touchpoints centred on various cultural and leisure content.