SK Telecom sweeps all 3 major customer satisfaction surveys

SK Telecom reclaims KCSI top spot after cyberattack fallout

Sweep of NCSI, KS-SQI and KCSI marks clean sweep of major surveys

Long-term benefits, data quality and rate plan satisfaction all rise

SK Telecom CEO Jeong Jae-heon conducts a field customer experience activity. [SK Telecom]

SK Telecom has topped all three of South Korea's major customer satisfaction surveys, reclaiming the No. 1 position in the Korea Customer Satisfaction Index one year after losing it in the wake of a cyberattack — a ranking the company had held for 27 consecutive years.

SK Telecom said Wednesday it ranked first in the mobile telecommunications category of the KCSI, administered by the Korea Management Association Consulting. The result follows a first-place finish in the National Customer Satisfaction Index in April and in the Korea Service Quality Index in July.

The company had surrendered its 27-year KCSI top ranking last year after a cyberattack shook customer confidence. Regaining it within a year carries particular significance, the company said. Customer satisfaction scores rose year-on-year across key categories, including benefits for long-term subscribers, call and data quality, and rate plan satisfaction.

SK Telecom said the results reflect service improvements centered on the customer experience. CEO Jeong Jae-heon declared upon taking office that the company would return to its core purpose and pursue innovation in customer value.

This year, SK Telecom conducted 730 field customer experience activities, including a "door-to-door service" program for more than 35,000 elderly customers across 87 cities and counties nationwide. The total distance covered by staff reached 200,000 kilometers — equivalent to five trips around the Earth.

The company also renamed its founding anniversary "the day we stand before our customers again." CEO Jeong and all executives, along with the Customer Trust Committee, visited frontline locations — including customer service centers, retail outlets, airport roaming centers and welfare facilities for people with disabilities — to hear feedback directly.

Staff also made personal visits to customers who have used SK Telecom for 40 years or more to express gratitude and listen to their experiences. The company said it is the only domestic carrier with subscribers of 40 or more years.

SK Telecom said it has been expanding customer communication channels and incorporating feedback into its management decisions.

The company reviews external perceptions and evaluates its trust-recovery efforts through a Customer Trust Committee made up of 100 customer advisers and outside experts.

SK Telecom recently held its "2026 Insight Day" together with the customer advisory panel and the Customer Trust Committee. Participants worked to establish trust indicators based on customer behavior and firsthand experience, and discussed improvement tasks for each indicator.

Kang Min-gu, head of the customer advisory panel, said that even a service or marketing policy that looks flawless from a company's perspective can reveal unexpected inconveniences from the customer's point of view. "The customer advisory panel will continue to play its role in conveying honest customer opinions through a variety of activities," he said.

SK Telecom also runs a "CX Campus" project that engages younger customers, including university students. Student ideas have been incorporated into T membership benefits, with coffee and dessert-focused perks timed to exam periods and running-themed marketing campaigns developed in response.

The company is also using AI to improve the customer experience, analyzing voice-of-customer data from its call centers to drive product and service improvements — including proactively identifying potential issues before they surface.

AI has also been applied to customer communications. A large volume of outgoing messages is reviewed using AI to improve accuracy, and the system screens for social sensitivity issues in advance. SK Telecom said it has maintained an eight-year streak of zero incidents in customer communications.

"This KCSI No. 1 ranking is both an acknowledgment of our efforts to strengthen customer trust and a call to hold ourselves to an even higher standard," CEO Jeong said. "We will create changes that customers can feel in their daily lives — through an unwavering customer-first principle and AI-driven enhancement of the customer experience — and build even greater trust."

chami@heraldcorp.com