This file photo, taken on July 8, 2020, shows the logos of the country’s three major telecom operators. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s three major mobile carriers have asked the government to disclose the information concerning the pricing of the frequency reallocation for the 3G and Long-Term-Evolution (LTE) networks.
The telecom companies and the government have been locked in an impasse over the reallocation costs of 3G-LTE frequencies that are scheduled to expire in June 2021.
In a joint press release issued on Thursday, SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. said that they asked the Ministry of Science and ICT to disclose the grounds and methods it used to calculate the frequency allocation price over the past 10 years.
They claimed that the ministry should clearly explain the reason why its calculation method for the frequency reallocation price is different from the principle stipulated under the Radio Waves Act and the standards it used in the past.
Under the current enforcement ordinance of the Radio Waves Act, the cost of frequency reallocation should be calculated based on a combination of actual and estimated sales for allocated frequency.
The telecom companies insisted that the cost of frequency reallocation should be made in accordance with the legally-defined calculation method.
On the basis of this method, the telecom companies presented a joint proposal in which they claimed that it would be reasonable for the government to impose fees of about 1.6 trillion won (US$1.43 billion) over five years for the reallocation of the 310 MHz frequency bandwidth.
In contrast, however, the government is reportedly reviewing the idea of reflecting the previous bidding price in the calculation of the frequency reallocation cost, although it has not yet commented in detail about the standards and methods that are expected to be used.
The telecom companies said that it’s not reasonable to apply the previous bidding price for the calculation of the frequency reallocation cost as their current sales remain stagnant, resulting in a decline in estimated sales.
Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)
