South Korea‘s smallest mobile operator LG Uplus Corp. said Thursday that it will reduce its mobile-phone rates by 1,000 won starting in November, joining its two bigger rivals, which gave into government pressure to cut mobile fees.

LG Uplus will start charging 10,900 won as its basic mobile-phone rates, instead of 11,900 won starting in November and offer 50 additional free text messages for its users, it said in an e-mailed statement.

LG is the last in the country’s wireless industry to give into pressure from the government, which has criticized mobile carriers for worsening the financial health of local households with hefty mobile rates and for stoking inflationary pressure.

SK Telecom Co., the country‘s largest mobile carrier, and KT Corp. announced earlier in the summer that they would cut their basic mobile-phone rates by 1,000 won, and introduce pre-paid phone services and new subscription plans for smartphone users.

LG Uplus said that its measure to help ease household mobile fees will annually save 273.9 billion won ($258 million) in total, or around 28,000 won per user.

Shares of LG Uplus closed at 5,070 won on the Seoul bourse, up 1.71 percent from Wednesday’s close.

(Yonhap News)