"Telecom Companies Face 167 Billion Won Penalty for Unauthorized Use of Utility Poles"

National Assembly Science and ICT Committee Member Yang Jeong-suk
Reviewing Penalty Surcharges
LG Uplus Accounts for 28% of Surcharges

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] It has been revealed that over the past 5 years and 7 months, major domestic telecommunications operators illegally installed communication lines on Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) utility poles, resulting in penalty charges amounting to 167 billion KRW.

According to data submitted by KEPCO to Yang Jeong-suk, an independent member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting Communications Committee, from 2016 to the end of July 2021, a total of 1,286,657 trillion (strands) of unauthorized use of KEPCO utility poles by domestic major telecommunications operators, general telecommunications operators, and administrative/public institutions were detected. The total penalty charges reached 167 billion KRW.

Looking at the penalty status of major telecommunications operators, LG Uplus incurred penalty charges of 46.6 billion KRW with 303,875 trillion strands of unauthorized utility pole use detected. This is the highest among the four major telecom companies, accounting for about 28% of the total penalty charges.

Following are SK Broadband with penalty charges of 28.7 billion KRW (218,059 trillion strands), SK Telecom with 18.8 billion KRW (166,197 trillion strands), and KT with 16 billion KRW (103,657 trillion strands).

Assembly member Yang Jeong-suk emphasized that most of the utility poles used illegally by telecom companies carry high-voltage electricity, posing danger, and that unorganized communication cables scattered throughout urban areas not only threaten public safety but also spoil the cityscape.

She added, "To eradicate unauthorized use of utility poles, the Korea Communications Commission and related agencies must actively strengthen investigations into facility details to detect illegal communication installations and establish institutional measures. Furthermore, close discussions among the government, local governments, and telecom companies are necessary to promote national-level public discourse on converting utility poles and communication poles to underground cables."

Underground cabling refers to the process of burying transmission lines underground instead of erecting transmission towers above ground.

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