KCC Requests "Increase Transition Support Fund"... Mobile Carriers and Device Manufacturers Ask

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) called in the three major mobile carriers and requested an increase in the number portability switching support funds.

According to the KCC and industry sources on the 19th, the KCC held a meeting the previous day with executives from the three mobile carriers and mobile phone manufacturers to explain the matter and ask for their cooperation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, on the 13th, the KCC approved at a plenary meeting the enactment of the "Standards for Payment of Number Portability Switching Support Funds upon Changing Mobile Carriers" following the revision of the enforcement decree, as well as amendments to the "Detailed Standards for Disclosure and Posting of Support Funds."

Accordingly, since the 16th, mobile carriers have been allowed to voluntarily pay up to 500,000 KRW to users switching their numbers, covering expected profits, penalties, SIM card issuance costs, and losses of long-term subscriber benefits.

However, so far, the carriers have set the switching support funds between 30,000 and 130,000 KRW, which has been criticized as falling short of public expectations and demands.

The three carriers have stated that it is difficult to significantly increase the support funds immediately, but if one of the three takes the lead, competition may intensify, potentially driving the support funds up sequentially toward the upper limit.

A KCC official said, "While competition through switching support funds is expected to be activated, since the current amounts still do not meet public expectations, we have once again urged executives to increase the switching support funds."

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