KT is rolling out a mobile fee discount program exclusively for non-South Korean nationals, becoming the first mobile carrier here to do so, the firm announced Wednesday.

While many local subscribers are eligible for family plans, which entail discounts and benefits such as shared data usage, most foreigners have been left out of such benefits as many are here without their families.

KT’s new plan for non-Koreans will group five foreign customers with the same nationality and offer a discount of up to 11,000 won ($9.73) per month to each subscriber for 24 months.

Foreigners will only need their alien registration cards to submit an application.

Current subscribers could switch to the new plan, if they bring four new or existing subscribers to apply for the group discount.

It is estimated that there were 2.2 million non-Korean mobile users in the country as of late last year. KT does not reveal data regarding its foreign subscriber base.

The firm said it came up with the plan after learning that less than 10 percent of foreign students and workers in the country benefit from mobile carriers’ various discount plans, while the percentage for locals was close to 70 percent.

Other mobile carriers have tried to enhance their services for foreign subscribers, such as introducing multilingual information services, but have not yet offered a cut in fees.

SK Telecom, the country’s No. 1 mobile carrier, introduced an English-language app service and opened about 30 shops that offer services in various languages in November last year.

Foreigners can check their mobile bills, including data usage and prepayment rates, and can receive discounts on food, beverages and leisure from their T Membership via the English version of the T World app.

LG U+ said it has no separate mobile plan for foreigners.

“The newest plan for foreigners is aimed at soothing the customers who had to stay in Korea for an unexpectedly longer time than they had planned under the COVID-19 pandemic,” said a KT official.

The mobile carrier will run the program from April 1 through Sept. 31, offering a 20,000-won voucher for Hanpass, a remittance service, for those who subscribe to the plan in April.

KT is also launching a concierge service for foreigners, dubbed Feel at Home ANSIM, which includes a text service in multiple languages, customer care and global store services.

From May, KT will add Russian to its foreign language offerings. It currently offers services in English, Chinese, Vietnamese and Japanese.

The company will also continue expanding its global store service across the country, where the mobile carrier has assigned employees who speak other languages to cater to foreign visitors. As of March, KT operated 157 such shops for international subscribers.

For inquiries about KT‘s new mobile plan, call the company‘s foreign customer care center (080-448-0100) and visit its global portal https://globalshop.kt.com.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)