"Done in 10 Minutes"... No Crowds on First Day of LG Uplus USIM Replacement

Smooth Process Thanks to Advance Reservation System

"Stopped by to Pay My Bill and Ended Up Replacing It" - On-Site Customers Also Satisfied

On April 13, as soon as the LG Uplus store near Tapgol Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul opened its doors at 10 a.m., customers rushed in. Store employees had arrived at 9 a.m. and put up posters throughout the store to guide customers about USIM replacement. A total of 11 customers visited the store at opening time, including eight who had made reservations in advance and three walk-in customers. Five customers sat in chairs and looked at their phone screens together with employees. Yonggyu Yoon (70, male), who visited the LG Uplus store, said, "I came because it was my billing day, and they told me it would be good to replace my USIM as well, so I did both. It didn’t take much time, and I heard the security would be improved, so from a customer’s perspective, there’s nothing to lose."

On the 13th, customers are undergoing USIM replacement at the LG Uplus store near Tapgol Park in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Photo by Gyeongseon Kong

Starting on this day, LG Uplus began offering free USIM replacement and updates for all customers.

Customers can check whether they are eligible for USIM replacement or update through the U+one app and the LG Uplus website. For those who wish to replace or update their USIM at the store, a reservation system has been in operation since April 8. According to LG Uplus, from April 8 until 8 p.m. the previous day, a total of 180,560 customers made advance reservations for USIM replacement: 169,873 mobile network operator (MNO) users and 10,687 mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) users.

LG Uplus has also secured sufficient supply to prevent a so-called "USIM shortage crisis." As of this day, LG Uplus had secured 2.09 million USIM cards for MNO users and 1.68 million for MVNO users. Jaewon Lee, head of LG Uplus’s consumer division, said, "For USIM updates, if customers avoid peak hours based on the expected wait times, the process can proceed smoothly without any waiting time."

LG Uplus decided to conduct this USIM replacement and update due to ongoing controversy regarding its security system.

Since the introduction of fourth-generation (4G) mobile communication in 2011, LG Uplus has issued international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) numbers used for subscriber identification that included the actual phone number of the subscriber. An IMSI is a unique 15-digit number composed of a country code, carrier code, and subscriber number. Typically, such numbers are assigned randomly without any pattern, but in this case, the subscriber’s personal information was included in the identification number. LG Uplus explained that it is difficult to hack with the IMSI value alone.

However, the on-site process went smoothly thanks to the reservation system, and there was no congestion. Employees at the LG Uplus store near Tapgol Park immediately called waiting customers whenever a seat became available. There were not many customers waiting in the store. An LG Uplus representative said, "Rather than an accident, this is about strengthening security, so customers seem less anxious," adding, "Since online updates are also possible, the site is less crowded."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.