Assemblyman Lee Jung-moon "Need to Review the Feasibility of the Wholesale Obligation System for Budget Phones"

Survey on the Impact of Activating Competition in Alttul Phone Market Conducted
Representative Bill Introduced to Amend the 'Telecommunications Business Act'

On the 7th, Lee Jung-moon, a member of the National Assembly's Science, Technology, Information and Broadcasting and Communications Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, announced that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Partial Amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act" to review the validity of the wholesale provision obligation system in the budget phone market.

According to Article 38 of the current Telecommunications Business Act, to promote competition in the telecommunications business, a period telecommunications business operator designated as a "wholesale provision obligation operator" must enter into an agreement and provide wholesale services upon request from another telecommunications business operator intending to resell telecommunications services.

This wholesale provision obligation system was initially established as a temporary system with a sunset clause. However, it was extended three times over the past 12 years and expired on September 22 of last year.

The Ministry of Science and ICT, the competent authority, has continuously pushed for extensions to ensure the stable establishment and maturation of the budget phone market, but it has faced criticism regarding the uncertainty of policy continuity. Additionally, when extending regulations, the government has never set or disclosed clear performance goals or detailed quantitative indicators to be achieved, raising questions about the maturity level the budget phone market must reach to be considered stable.

Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Jung-moon [Photo by Yonhap News]

In response, the amendment to the Telecommunications Business Act, led by Assemblyman Lee Jung-moon, introduces a provision requiring the Minister of Science and ICT to conduct a fact-finding survey on the impact of the wholesale provision obligation system on competition activation in the telecommunications business sector. The survey results will be reflected in decisions regarding the extension of the system, and future decisions on the abolition, easing, or extension of the system will be reviewed. However, considering the preparation period needed for the government to establish the fact-finding survey and performance goals and indicators, the wholesale provision obligation period will be extended once more for three years.

Assemblyman Lee Jung-moon stated, "Through clear diagnosis, goals, and evaluations of the market by the Ministry of Science and ICT, genuine consideration of the budget phone market should be encouraged, and transparency in the operation of budget phone policies should be enhanced." He added, "Through the fact-finding survey and reporting of results, the government will also be able to seek policies for clear goals and the mid- to long-term growth of the budget phone market."

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