LG Uplus reveals XR revenue boost

INTERVIEW: South Korean operator LG Uplus fuelled a surge in data usage and ARPU through an aggressive addition of VR and AR content since launching 5G, an executive told Mobile World Live.Chris Reznicek, head of XR (Extended Reality) partnerships, said the

operator now has “more than 5,000 pieces of content for our VR/AR services, which has garnered some 15 million views”.

The operator’s 5G subscribers consume about three-times more data than 4G users, with nearly a fifth of this generated by immersive content.

Reznicek said this had lifted ARPU among certain segments by as much as $15 a month.

He explained multi-access edge computing (MEC) technology was an important element, albeit one which varied depending on an operator’s network design and the geographical characteristics of individual nations.

In Korea, for example, edge computing is mostly a nice to have element for regular AR/VR services.

But in certain cases, he said it is a must have, citing top-tier PC-based VR games the operator offered to hotel guests, along with video on demand and live streaming of 8K or higher resolution content.