5G Frequency Auction Announcement Postponed... Minister Im Hye-sook "Collecting Opinions from Three Telecom Companies"

SK Telecom Responds to Additional Requests: "Difficult to Execute Promptly"

Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT is delivering opening remarks at the ruling party-government meeting for the promotion of space development held at the National Assembly on the 10th. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] The auction announcement schedule for the additional allocation of 5G frequencies has been postponed to next month.

Lim Hye-sook, Minister of Science and ICT, attended the '2022 New Year Press Conference' held on the 27th and stated regarding the controversy over the 'additional allocation of 5G frequencies' among the three major telecom companies SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus, "We will meet with the CEOs of the three telecom companies in February to gather common opinions." Originally, the Ministry of Science and ICT planned to hold an auction next month for the additional allocation of 3.4?3.42 GHz (20 MHz bandwidth) frequencies requested by LG Uplus. The announcement must be made one month prior to the auction. Considering this, the plan should have been disclosed by this month.

Regarding SK Telecom's request for an additional auction of 40 MHz bandwidth in the 3.7?4.0 GHz band, which is a 5G (5th generation mobile communication) frequency, Minister Lim said, "It is difficult to carry out promptly," adding, "Frequency allocation involves many procedures including forming a research team to hear expert opinions, gathering stakeholder feedback, and holding public hearings."

Furthermore, in response to the question, "Is the auction next month too rushed?" she said, "It is hard to say the schedule is unreasonable," but added, "Since SK Telecom requested 40 MHz and stakeholder opinions have not been fully gathered, it is uncertain whether the announcement will be made next month."

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