This photo taken on Aug. 7, 2020, shows Samsung Electronics Co.’s Galaxy smartphones displayed at a store in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Aug. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea said Thursday it will allow new unlocked 5G phones to use 4G LTE plans amid growing complaints over quality issues surrounding the latest generation network.
The country’s three major mobile carriers — SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. — have previously limited new unlocked phones to data plans on previous generation networks that are often relatively less expensive, leading to growing criticism from consumer rights groups.
Unlocked phones refer to mobile devices that are not tied to mobile carrier contracts.
The Ministry of Science and ICT said the three carriers have agreed to allow new unlocked 5G phones to be serviceable on the 4G LTE network after discussions with consumer groups and industry experts.
While the new announcement is targeted at improving user rights, the move comes as 5G subscribers have complained of the network’s disappointing speed and connection since its launch in April last year.
A government report, released earlier this month, showed that the network’s speed was four times faster than 4G LTE, but it was far lower than the advertised 20 times faster speeds.
It also found that 5G accessibility hovers below 70 percent in public locations installed with network equipment.
South Korea’s consumer watchdog, the Korea Consumer Agency, said it received 167 consumer complaints on 5G since the network’s launch a year ago. Among the complaints, network quality issues topped the list at 54.
The telecommunications regulator, the Korea Communications Commission, earlier this week launched a telecommunications dispute settlement team due to the increasing complaints surrounding 5G network quality.
South Korea had 7.3 million 5G accounts in June, accounting for just over 10 percent of the 69.6 million mobile accounts in total, according to ICT ministry data.
(Yonhap)
