The Frequency Battle Among the Three Major Telecom Companies... "Customer Convenience" in Words Only

5G Frequency Additional Allocation
Meeting Between Ministry of Science and ICT and Telecom Companies
SKT and KT: "Allocated Frequencies Favor LG Uplus"
Intense Debate Over Interests
5G 28GHz Band Development Facility Investment
Falls Significantly Short of Implementation Plan

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] As the competition among the three major telecom companies intensifies over the additional allocation of 5G frequencies by the Ministry of Science and ICT, a related forum was held at the National Assembly. Although all participants, including the Ministry of Science and ICT, emphasized ‘increasing consumer benefits,’ consumer complaints such as 5G service disruptions and expensive plans are growing. There are criticisms that telecom companies should focus more on fundamental service improvements rather than fighting over frequency rights.

The three telecom companies prioritized ‘customer convenience’ but...

On the 19th, the ‘Frequency Allocation Policy Meeting’ was held under the auspices of Rep. Yang Jeong-sook’s office of the National Assembly’s Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee. SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and various experts attended, but the discussion remained inconclusive. SK Telecom and KT raised their voices, claiming that the allocated frequency band favors LG Uplus and that "it effectively constitutes a sole supply, violating fairness." LG Uplus countered, saying, "If we receive additional frequency allocation, it will establish a foundation to provide equal speed and uniform 5G quality to all citizens without regional discrimination."

Continuous frequency bands are advantageous for efficient 5G service operation. The telecom industry realistically expects LG Uplus to be the sole bidder in the additional frequency allocation. Among the three telecom companies, LG Uplus is the only one using an 80MHz bandwidth in the 3.5GHz band, allowing it to use an adjacent 20MHz bandwidth without additional technical investment. SK Telecom and KT stated, "Although frequency aggregation technology called CA can be used, developing dedicated base station equipment and building the network takes more than three years," indicating no real incentive to participate.

Ultimately, the current auction method for frequency allocation was also criticized at the forum. Questions were raised about whether it is appropriate to maintain an auction system for products where competitive bidding is impossible. There were also criticisms that fairness issues existed from the initial allocation of 5G frequencies. A SK Telecom official pointed out, "Since the frequency supply structure fundamentally started with an unfair structure, even if we try to improve the supply method or compensation later, the structure itself cannot be changed, which greatly distorts the market and can hinder customer convenience."

Greedy for frequencies only, investment neglected

There were also criticisms that the three telecom companies are greedy for frequencies but neglect investment. This is why many still use LTE due to 5G service disruptions across the country. Jeong Ji-yeon, Secretary General of the Korea Consumer Federation, who attended the forum, said, "From a consumer perspective, both speed and coverage are important," adding, "Telecom companies said that if they receive additional frequency allocation, there would be no problem increasing (base stations) to 120,000 within a year, so I want to ask why they did not make such efforts when it was possible to increase by 50,000 within a year."

According to the Korea Consumer Federation, consumer complaints related to 5G increased by 16%, from 1,800 cases in 2019 to 1,900 cases in 2020. Last year, collective lawsuits related to 5G quality compensation also proceeded through the first and second trial dates.

Investment in facilities for developing the 28GHz band, which can deliver the highest 5G quality, was found to be significantly below the planned implementation. According to Rep. Yang Jeong-sook’s office, as of the end of December last year, the total number of 5G 28GHz base stations (equipment) reported by the three telecom companies was 2,114, but only 138 devices had been completed. The implementation rate compared to the mandatory fulfillment standard was only 0.3%. Furthermore, following the Ministry of Science and ICT’s relaxation of implementation inspection standards at the end of December last year, a large number of installation reports were submitted only in December, leading to accusations of ‘loophole exploitation.’

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