New Brand Finance data reveals South Korea's telecom brands are valued at $8.1 billion in 2026
SEOUL, 18 March 2026 - South Korea’s telecom brands record a combined brand value of USD8.1 billion in the Telecoms 150 2026 report by Brand Finance, the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. The sector registers a 10% year-on-year decline, with the country moving from 14th to 17th globally by collective value of its leading telecom brands, reflecting mixed performance among its leading operators.
KT (brand value up 11% to USD3.9 billion) ranks 38th globally and extends its run as South Korea’s most valuable telecoms brand. Its brand value growth was boosted by reported improvements across KT’s business portfolio, including mobile, broadband, media and AI services.
SK Telecoms (brand value down 15% to USD2.6 billion) ranks 54th globally, falling 10 places compared to last year. The decline coincides with a challenging year for the brand, which reported lower revenues and subscriber losses following cybersecurity-related disruptions.
LG U+ (brand value at USD1.4 billion) ranks 76th globally, while LG HelloVision records the highest brand value growth among South Korean telecom brands featured in the sector rankings, rising 26% to USD271 million and climbing 18 places to 146th. LG HelloVision re-enters the ranking after a two-year absence as its growth aligns with the brand’s focus on operational efficiency and profitability within a structurally constrained broadcasting segment.
Alex Haigh, Managing Director Asia Pacific, Brand Finance, commented:
“In highly saturated telecom markets such as South Korea, brand value growth is less about subscriber expansion and more about strategic differentiation and investor confidence. The decline in the country's overall telecoms brand value this year reflects how operational and cybersecurity challenges affecting parts of the sector can weigh on performance. The divergence between KT and SK Telecoms illustrates how competitive execution and customer trust directly influence brand value in mature environments."
Telecoms Industry Global Insights
Brand Finance is the world’s leading brand valuation consultancy. Bridging the gap between marketing and finance, Brand Finance evaluates the strength of brands and quantifies their financial value to help organisations make strategic decisions.
Headquartered in London, Brand Finance operates in over 25 countries. Every year, Brand Finance conducts more than 6,000 brand valuations, supported by original market research, and publishes over 100 reports which rank brands across all sectors and countries.
Brand Finance also operates the Global Brand Equity Monitor, conducting original market research annually on 6,000 brands, surveying more than 175,000 respondents across 41 countries and 31 industry sectors. By combining perceptual data from the Global Brand Equity Monitor with data from its valuation database — the largest brand value database in the world — Brand Finance equips ambitious brand leaders with the data, analytics, and the strategic guidance they need to enhance brand and business value.
In addition to calculating brand value, Brand Finance also determines the relative strength of brands through a balanced scorecard of metrics, compliant with ISO 20671.
Brand Finance is a regulated accountancy firm and a committed leader in the standardisation of the brand valuation industry. Brand Finance was the first to be certified by independent auditors as compliant with both ISO 10668 and ISO 20671 and has received the official endorsement of the Marketing Accountability Standards Board (MASB) in the United States.
Brand is defined as a marketing-related intangible asset including, but not limited to, names, terms, signs, symbols, logos, and designs, intended to identify goods, services, or entities, creating distinctive images and associations in the minds of stakeholders, thereby generating economic benefits.
Brand strength is the efficacy of a brand’s performance on intangible measures relative to its competitors. Brand Finance evaluates brand strength in a process compliant with ISO 20671, looking at Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and the impact of those on Business Performance. The data used is derived from Brand Finance’s proprietary market research programme and from publicly available sources.
Each brand is assigned a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score out of 100, which feeds into the brand value calculation. Based on the score, each brand is assigned a corresponding Brand Rating up to AAA+ in a format similar to a credit rating.
Brand Finance calculates the values of brands in its rankings using the Royalty Relief approach – a brand valuation method compliant with the industry standards set in ISO 10668. It involves estimating the likely future revenues that are attributable to a brand by calculating a royalty rate that would be charged for its use, to arrive at a ‘brand value’ understood as a net economic benefit that a brand owner would achieve by licensing the brand in the open market.
The steps in this process are as follows:
1 Calculate brand strength using a balanced scorecard of metrics assessing Marketing Investment, Stakeholder Equity, and Business Performance. Brand strength is expressed as a Brand Strength Index (BSI) score on a scale of 0 to 100.
2 Determine royalty range for each industry, reflecting the importance of brand to purchasing decisions. In luxury, the maximum percentage is high, while in extractive industry, where goods are often commoditised, it is lower. This is done by reviewing comparable licensing agreements sourced from Brand Finance’s extensive database.
3 Calculate royalty rate. The BSI score is applied to the royalty range to arrive at a royalty rate. For example, if the royalty range in a sector is 0-5% and a brand has a BSI score of 80 out of 100, then an appropriate royalty rate for the use of this brand in the given sector will be 4%.
4 Determine brand-specific revenues by estimating a proportion of parent company revenues attributable to a brand.
5 Determine forecast revenues using a function of historic revenues, equity analyst forecasts, and economic growth rates.
6 Apply the royalty rate to the forecast revenues to derive brand revenues.
7 Discount post-tax brand revenues to a net present value which equals the brand value.
Brand Finance has produced this study with an independent and unbiased analysis. The values derived and opinions presented in this study are based on publicly available information and certain assumptions that Brand Finance used where such data was deficient or unclear. Brand Finance accepts no responsibility and will not be liable in the event that the publicly available information relied upon is subsequently found to be inaccurate. The opinions and financial analysis expressed in the study are not to be construed as providing investment or business advice. Brand Finance does not intend the study to be relied upon for any reason and excludes all liability to any body, government, or organisation.
The data presented in this study form part of Brand Finance's proprietary database, are provided for the benefit of the media, and are not to be used in part or in full for any commercial or technical purpose without written permission from Brand Finance.
