Two Months Ahead of the Science and ICT Committee Audit... Issues Including 5G Quality and COVID-19 Response Line Up

[Asia Economy Reporter Joselgina] The issue of 5G mobile communication quality, which has been a constant source of consumer complaints, is expected to be a major topic at the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee (STIBC) audit in October. This year’s first audit of the 21st National Assembly is also likely to address related response issues such as traffic management amid the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

According to the '2020 National Assembly Audit Issue Analysis Report' by the National Assembly Legislative Research Office on the 13th, the STIBC audit is expected to focus not only on 5G quality issues but also on zero-rating, alleviation of household communication cost burdens, creation of a fair competition environment between domestic and foreign internet service providers, and the obligation of value-added communication service providers to ensure communication service stability.

◆"Unreliable 5G" Quality Controversy Continues

First, the Legislative Research Office pointed out that although South Korea surpassed 6.33 million subscribers (as of April) after being the world’s first to commercialize 5G, controversies over 5G quality persist, identifying 5G quality improvement as a key agenda item.

Currently, 5G speeds fall far short of the levels promoted by telecom companies, and it is pointed out that users can only connect to the 5G network for 3.4 hours out of 24 hours a day. Another problem is that most 5G service base stations are concentrated only in the metropolitan area, resulting in significant regional disparities. Among these, Seoul (24.3%) and Gyeonggi (22.1%) account for nearly half.

Furthermore, according to the network construction plans submitted by the three telecom companies at the time of frequency allocation, about 5,000 base stations in the fast 28GHz band were supposed to be installed in 2019 and about 14,000 this year, but this has also been delayed, the Legislative Research Office pointed out.

Accordingly, the Legislative Research Office argued that consumers should be accurately informed about the current 5G quality, which does not meet the promoted levels, and that efforts to improve quality such as expanding service base stations and securing stable coverage inside buildings are necessary. The Legislative Research Office suggested, "When allocating 5G frequencies, only an obligation to build a certain number of base stations annually was imposed, but in the future, specific obligations such as speed and regional coverage should be included in the existing network construction obligations."

◆Will Solutions Emerge for Domestic and Foreign CP Discrimination... Network Cost Conflicts Too

The recurring issue of fairness between domestic and foreign content providers (CPs) is also cited as a key agenda item for this audit. The Legislative Research Office stated that for the newly established offshore regulations to work effectively, enforcement effectiveness against foreign operators must be strengthened, and international cooperation systems for practical regulation and investigative authority enhancement should be established. However, it added that unnecessary regulations should be removed through reorganization efforts to ensure that regulations on all value-added communication service providers are not raised during this process.

Moreover, as the proportion of certain content providers occupying the network has increased significantly, conflicts between telecom companies and content providers over network quality and construction cost responsibilities are growing, so improvement is also needed. It was explained that the enforcement decree should specify criteria for subjects obligated to fulfill service stability, details of enforcement measures, and standards for judging compliance, while also securing enforcement power against foreign operators. Considering that many domestic companies claim that telecom network usage fees are higher than abroad, it was suggested that the current situation be assessed and improvements considered.

Along with this, the Legislative Research Office viewed that regarding zero-rating, which does not charge users for data fees incurred when using specific content, it is necessary to include targets, conditions, and user scale in the evaluation survey of the telecommunications market competition situation. It also analyzed that the public Wi-Fi, a pledge of the Moon Jae-in administration, should improve management efficiency by completing an integrated management center.

Furthermore, the Legislative Research Office noted that since the current government took office, no concrete results have yet emerged from regulatory reforms based on the horizontal regulatory principle between broadcasting and OTT, and called for follow-up legislation to revitalize the OTT industry. Previously, in the 20th National Assembly, a full revision bill of the Broadcasting Act was proposed to integrate OTT regulation into the Broadcasting Act and impose separate regulations on OTT, but it was discarded due to the expiration of the term.

◆COVID-19 Response Also a Major Issue

In this audit, in addition to the recurring telecommunications and media issues, COVID-19 response issues are expected to emerge as key topics. The Legislative Research Office also included many related contents in the issue analysis report, such as ▲traffic management during the COVID-19 situation ▲EBS’s COVID response ▲information security in the non-face-to-face era ▲infectious disease prevention and management and personal information processing.

The Legislative Research Office emphasized the need to establish a rapid response system in preparation for prolonged COVID-19, mentioning that traffic surges occurred in Europe and other regions as online activities increased due to COVID-19. It argued that when there is concern about failures due to surges in usage, priority should be given according to traffic types and legal grounds for control should be established.

Currently, there is no legal enforcement power, so if telecom companies restrict certain types of traffic based on this, legal disputes with restricted content providers are possible. It was viewed that if necessary, the government should strongly request cooperation from content providers and others, and legal grounds and operational systems should be established to allow telecom companies to restrict certain types of traffic.

Along with this, as cyberattacks exploiting the COVID-19 situation are increasing, the Legislative Research Office added that it is necessary to inspect vulnerabilities in information and communication networks, establish related governance, and improve legislation.

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