[The Editors' Verdict] Changes and Challenges in the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Market

The rapid advancement of technology, economic growth, and a strong hope for improved quality of life. However, concerns about effective technology utilization and healthy growth paths are increasing, posing challenges to Korean society. Korea faces internal conflicts caused by low growth, employment insecurity, social class imbalances, and the transition to a low birthrate and super-aged society. In this situation, achieving a leap forward for the country requires comprehensive changes and responses in social and economic systems. For effective change and response, not only must the competitiveness of social and economic infrastructure be strengthened, but appropriate institutional frameworks must also be established to promote the proper role of this infrastructure. Korea is competing globally in information and communication and media infrastructure. Through the rapid development of information and communication and media, creative technologies and ideas can be commercialized to open new markets. Additionally, by developing innovation platforms based on information and communication and media, convergence among various industrial sectors can be promoted, creating new jobs. This is why groundbreaking development and convergence of information, communication, and media are essential.

Starting with the National Assembly’s government audit and continuing through the presidential election early next year, discussions on various policies that will determine the direction of the broadcasting and telecommunications market are expected to intensify. To achieve the desired outcomes from these discussions, an accurate analysis of the drivers of industry change must be a prerequisite. The drivers of change in the broadcasting and telecommunications industry include the emergence of a broadcasting and telecommunications-based unstructured society where media influence on individuals’ lives expands and dependence deepens. The geographic boundaries of broadcasting and telecommunications policies are disappearing due to regional market encroachment, leading to a restructuring of the industry’s division of labor and a borderless environment. Changes in population and income structures have established personalized and optimized consumption tendencies, resulting in changes to broadcasting and telecommunications business models. Due to these external factors, policies for the broadcasting and telecommunications industry must move beyond existing frameworks to address new policy issues.

In the media industry, intellectual property (IP)-based media such as Over-The-Top (OTT) services are spreading. It is time to prepare for an expansion from the existing broadcasting-based policy system to a broader media policy concept. The functions and values of media are also expected to be restructured, requiring consideration of the decentralization and reorganization of media value and function. At the core of these changes is the shift in users’ media consumption behaviors, particularly their transformation into producers and production agents, necessitating policy development that responds to this change. In the telecommunications industry, there must be regulatory responses to changes in service classification, a long-term transition to a horizontal system, and policy considerations to strengthen international competitiveness through harmony with platform industries. Furthermore, strategies to explore 5G utilization to enhance industrial competitiveness and plans for evolution toward 6G must be considered.

Changes within the broadcasting and telecommunications industry inevitably lead to considerations on how to reorganize policy governance to promote the proper role of broadcasting and telecommunications infrastructure in the future. Policies must be established to minimize the side effects of restructuring caused by mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the pay-TV market, restructuring of the telecommunications service market, intensified competition from OTT and other players, additional entry of global operators, and market expansion, while enhancing competitiveness. What must be considered in this process is the alignment of policy directions and means to prevent policy failure and a response focused on activation policies to strengthen industry competitiveness. Through active discussions, it is hoped that the competitiveness of Korea’s broadcasting and telecommunications industry will be strengthened.

Shin Minsu, Professor, Department of Business Administration, Hanyang University

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