[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] SK Telecom will sequentially terminate its 2G mobile communication service starting from July 6. With this, the so-called '011 era' will disappear into history after 25 years. However, subscribers who wish to keep their existing 011, 017 numbers can maintain their numbers until June 2021 through number portability and number display services.
On the 12th, SK Telecom announced plans to sequentially end its 2G service from July 6 following the conditional approval by the Ministry of Science and ICT of its partial discontinuation application for the period telecommunications business.
SK Telecom stated, "We will do our utmost to protect users by providing customer guidance and service transition support so that the 2G service can be properly concluded according to all procedures," adding, "Taking the termination of the 2G service, the protagonist of the 'CDMA legend,' as an opportunity, we will strive to provide more differentiated communication services in the 5G era."
◆Remaining subscribers total 384,000... Some resistance expected=As of June 1, SK Telecom's 2G service users account for about 384,000, which is 1.21% of total subscribers. Among the three major carriers, SK Telecom will be the second to terminate 2G service after KT in 2012.
The Ministry of Science and ICT conducted four nationwide inspections of SK Telecom's 2G network operations and determined that due to increased failures caused by network aging and shortages of some spare parts, it is difficult to continue operating the 2G network, thus approving the discontinuation application. SK Telecom announced its plan to terminate 2G service in February last year and applied for discontinuation to the Ministry of Science and ICT in November of the same year. During this process, the application was rejected twice due to reasons including subscriber numbers.
At a briefing held at the Government Seoul Office in the afternoon, Lee Tae-hee, Director of the Network Policy Office at the Ministry of Science and ICT, explained, "Since some network recovery is impossible and service quality is deteriorating, considering user safety, it was judged that continuing to operate the 2G network is not appropriate from the perspective of user protection," adding, "The discontinuation decision was made based on the user protection plan."
However, user resistance is expected to continue. It is reported that some civic groups are preparing related lawsuits. Among the remaining 384,000 subscribers, about 24,000 have not made voice calls, sent texts, or made outgoing calls for over a year. Approximately 90,000 remaining subscribers use the service only through call forwarding.
◆Free devices and discounts for switching to 3G or higher... User protection measures established=On this day, the Ministry of Science and ICT also revealed protection measures for the 384,000 remaining subscribers who will no longer be able to use SK Telecom's 2G service.
First, when choosing 3G or higher services, in case of increased device purchase costs or fee burdens, subscribers can receive free devices (choice among 10 types) and discounts through a compensation program according to their selection. The existing seven 2G rate plans can also be used on 3G and LTE. These rate plans are currently used by 72.9% of the remaining subscribers.
Additionally, if remaining subscribers wish to switch to 3G or higher within SK Telecom, the transition can be done by phone without visiting a store, and for those aged 65 or older or with disabilities, staff visits for switching are also available. Subscribers who wish to keep their existing 011 numbers can maintain their numbers until June 2021 through temporary intergenerational (3G, LTE, 5G) number portability or number display services.
Regarding specific discontinuation procedures and timing, the process will proceed only after users are fully informed. SK Telecom will begin the discontinuation process at least 20 days after approval and must diligently notify users of the discontinuation from immediately after approval.
Furthermore, the discontinuation process will be carried out step-by-step starting with areas where equipment aging is severe, with a user protection period at each stage. After starting the discontinuation procedure in each region, at least 7 days must pass before moving to the next region. Users must be notified at least 20 days before equipment removal work. The Ministry of Science and ICT judged that terminating the service all at once could cause confusion, so the phased discontinuation will proceed in the order of provinces → metropolitan cities → Seoul metropolitan area → Seoul. Even after approval, SK Telecom must implement user compensation plans for two years after termination and maintain 2G rate plans as proposed in the business discontinuation plan to minimize user complaints and damages.
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