Minister Im Hye-sook Meets with Heads of 3 Major Telecom Companies, but... "February Announcement Difficult" (Summary)

On the 17th, CEOs of the three telecom companies held a meeting with Minister Im Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT at Seoul Central Post Office
The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to proceed swiftly at the practical level

At the CEO meeting of the three telecommunications companies held on the 17th at Post Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul, Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT and the CEOs of the three telecommunications companies are taking a commemorative photo. From the left, KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo, Minister Lim, SK Telecom CEO Yoo Young-sang, LG Uplus CEO Hwang Hyun-sik. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT held a meeting with the representatives of the three major telecommunications companies, but it was concluded that further review is needed regarding the additional allocation of frequencies. As the announcement was postponed from February to March, LG Uplus, which had requested the additional allocation, also expressed regret over the government's decision.

Minister Lim Hye-sook: "A comprehensive review must be conducted"

On the morning of the 17th, Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT held a meeting at the Seoul Central Post Office with the CEOs of the three major telecom companies?Yoo Young-sang, Vice Chairman of SK Telecom, Koo Hyun-mo, CEO of KT, and Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus?to discuss cooperation measures such as expanding investment to enhance 5G consumer benefits, building a shared network in rural areas, and frequency supply.

Minister Lim stated, "The government’s principle remains unchanged that the top priority in frequency allocation should be improving the quality of 5G services and promoting investment," adding, "A comprehensive review should be conducted regarding the issues that telecom companies have continuously raised last year and this year."

She also said, "Regarding the 3.4 GHz 20 MHz bandwidth and the 3.7?4.0 GHz frequencies, which were originally planned for allocation review after 2023, since new demand has emerged, the government will comprehensively consider public benefits, fair frequency usage environment, investment activation, and global 5G frequency joint operation to promptly present the allocation direction and schedule."

Choi Woo-hyuk, Director of the Radio Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Science and ICT, said in a briefing, "It seems difficult to announce in February," explaining, "Because a comprehensive review stage must be entered." However, regarding the possibility of postponement until after the presidential election, he said, "Including today's CEO meeting results, we will proceed promptly next month," and added, "Please understand that political and administrative schedules are different." Since the frequency auction announcement must be made at least one month in advance, the possibility of postponement until after the March presidential election has increased.

Mixed reactions from the three telecom companies

Minister Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT is delivering a greeting at the CEO meeting of the three major telecommunications companies held on the 17th at Post Tower in Jung-gu, Seoul. From the right, Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus; Yoo Young-sang, CEO of SK Telecom; and Koo Hyun-mo, CEO of KT. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

Hwang Hyun-sik, CEO of LG Uplus, said to reporters after the meeting, "No definite conclusion was reached today," adding, "Decisions should be made promptly from the perspective of public and customer benefits, but it is regrettable that it keeps being delayed by other arguments." He continued, "The additional 20 MHz bandwidth we requested was announced in 2018 and was available in 2019," emphasizing, "It is not desirable to discuss the frequencies that were raised late by SK Telecom together with the frequencies that went through the research task force and public hearings first, as the latter were planned for discussion in 2023."

Koo Hyun-mo, CEO of KT, said, "The minister asked us to invest more than last year, and the three telecom companies agreed to execute more than last year accordingly," adding, "Although there are various difficulties in building the 28 GHz subway network, we agreed to faithfully implement it so that the public can use faster Wi-Fi through 28 GHz in the subway." Regarding whether additional allocation conditions are necessary, he stressed the need, saying, "There is already a precedent where the 1.8 GHz frequency allocated in 2013 had different regional service provision periods as an allocation condition."

Yoo Young-sang, Vice Chairman of SK Telecom, said, "We had an open and frank discussion," adding, "We will expand investment as much as possible with the stance of expanding investment and increase coverage quality to meet public demand." The plan is to maintain at least the same scale of 5G facility investment (CAPEX) as the previous year. He also mentioned, "We have done 5G for three years, and we should take the results globally. From that perspective, I plan to talk about three things at the Mobile World Congress (MWC)," referring to metaverse, artificial intelligence (AI) semiconductors, and quantum cryptography businesses.

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