Approaching 10 Million Subscribers Era
Non-Telecom Subsidiary-Affiliated Small MVNOs
'User Protection' Still Inadequate
Ministry of Science and ICT Signals Stronger Crackdown
"Please Ensure Thorough Customer Service" Request
[Asia Economy Reporter Koo Chae-eun] The government has issued a strict order on 'consumer protection' to MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) operators, who are on the verge of reaching 10 million subscribers. As cases of poor customer management, such as international call bill shocks, have continued mainly among small and medium-sized MVNO companies, the government also conveyed its intention to strengthen crackdowns by mentioning the possibility of on-site inspections next year.
According to the industry on the 4th, the Ministry of Science and ICT recently held a meeting with about 10 small and medium-sized MVNO operators that are not subsidiaries of the three major mobile carriers and gave such instructions. The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "Please invest more and pay more attention to user protection tasks," adding, "If complaints or customer dissatisfaction continue, on-site inspections of MVNOs with inadequate user protection may be conducted starting next year."
This measure comes as the number of MVNO subscribers approaches 9 million, showing quantitative expansion, but evaluations continue that investment in customer centers, management, and user protection tasks remain insufficient. The 'MVNO User Protection Guidelines,' enacted by the former Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (now the Ministry of Science and ICT) in 2014, stipulate items such as 'establishing a complaint management system to resolve user complaints.' However, many small non-telecom affiliated operators attending the meeting still have inadequate user protection systems such as customer centers.
Recently, a user who was using the A Mobile plan of MVNO company Enex Telecom on the KT network received hundreds of suspected hacking international calls while the phone was powered off, resulting in a bill shock exceeding 2 million KRW in one month. Although subscribed to an MVNO, cases of user inconvenience such as delays of over 30 minutes in connecting to customer centers continue unabated. This is ultimately seen as a limitation to the growth of MVNOs.
An industry official pointed out, "In the case of non-telecom affiliated MVNO companies, many operate simple MVNO businesses that only lease network services and delegate everything to telecom carriers. As a result, issues such as lack of investment and customer management systems have been continuously raised."
Recently, with the increase in MVNO subscriptions combined with the iPhone 12 series and unlocked phones, the MVNO market size is rapidly growing. According to the Mobile Number Portability statistics released by the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA), out of 372,536 total number portability cases in November, 114,259 cases moved to MVNOs, accounting for about 24% of the total number portability cases. According to the Ministry of Science and ICT, the number of MVNO subscribers reached 8,981,998 as of the end of October, approaching 9 million.
A Ministry of Science and ICT official said, "As the MVNO market grows, qualitative growth such as user protection is important," adding, "We will continue to strictly supervise user protection issues such as customer management services of MVNO companies."
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