KT Skylife's subscription base to top 4m this month

KT Skylife Co., a South Korean satellite broadcasting provider, said Tuesday that its subscription base is expected to top 4 million this month on strong demand for its cheap and diverse channel services. KT Skylife, an affiliate of KT Corp., the country's top telecom company, started its service in 2002. As of end-May, the number of subscribers to the operator's services reached 3.97 million, it said. Listed on the local stock market in 2011, KT Skylife currently provides a total of 223 TV channels. Propelled by its explosive growth in subscription, SK Skylife saw its operating profit surge 74.1 percent on-year to 31.6 billion won (US$28 million). Sales grew 22.1 percent on-year to 148.7 billion won during the January-March period and net profit jumped 77.8 percent on-year to 26.4 billion won over the cited period. New subscribers added 213,000 in the first quarter, bringing its total subscribers to some 3.9 million as of the end of March.