"Unreliable 5G, Requests for Refunds" 12 Cases Received by the Korea Communications Commission

5G Quality Complaints: 12 Cases Filed with Korea Communications Commission for Dispute Resolution
"Subscribed to Expensive Plans but 5G Service Dead," User Complaints Continue
5 Million Subscribers Nearing... Nationwide Network Completion 3 Years Away
Requests to Use LTE Plans While Using 5G Phones Also Arise

[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] Mr. Kim Ji-woon (alias) had a hard time last year because the 5G phone he bought with high hopes did not work. Although he subscribed to an 80,000 KRW plan, which is twice as expensive as LTE, the 5G signal was not available indoors at all, and it was dead outside as well. Both the dealership and customer service only told him to "wait," offering no solution. Unable to endure any longer, Mr. Kim filed a telecommunications dispute mediation request with the Korea Communications Commission.

As of the 22nd, it has been confirmed that 12 people, including Mr. Kim, have applied for telecommunications dispute mediation with the Korea Communications Commission on the grounds that "5G does not work and is unusable." These 12 subscribers are from SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus, and they are reportedly demanding refunds for the 80,000 KRW or higher monthly fees they have paid so far, as well as switching to LTE without penalty fees.

Among the 12 cases received, 4 were resolved during the pre-mediation settlement recommendation period, and 1 case, where no agreement was reached, was forwarded to the Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee operated by the Korea Communications Commission. The remaining 7 cases were received in January and are currently under review by the Commission. Currently, telecommunications company terms and conditions do not include provisions for compensation due to dissatisfaction with service quality. However, if mediation is requested and no agreement is reached, the Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee operated by the Commission is expected to issue a recommendation.

A Korea Communications Commission official explained, "There can be growing pains whenever there is a generational shift in telecommunications, so we are carefully listening to both the telecom companies and subscribers to facilitate dispute mediation," adding, "The one case where no agreement was reached is currently under review by the Telecommunications Dispute Mediation Committee, which is preparing a recommendation."

The 12 dispute mediation cases can be considered a small number when taking into account the 5G subscriber base (4.35 million) and the total number of telecommunications dispute mediation cases (6,800). However, since the telecommunications dispute mediation system has only been in place for six months and mediation is a step before civil litigation, it is pointed out that the number may increase in the future.

An industry insider said, "Currently, many 5G subscribers have no choice but to subscribe to 5G plans when purchasing 5G phones, so dissatisfaction with 5G service outages is inevitably high," adding, "There are many inquiries at dealerships about how to use LTE plans with 5G phones."

Meanwhile, the three major mobile carriers expect to complete nationwide 5G network construction by 2022. As of November last year, the number of 5G subscribers was recorded at 4,355,176.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.