[IT Fact Check] Tmap Paid Service? No Worries About Huge Charges If You Only Download the Map

Real-Time Traffic Info Monthly Usage
YouTube Video 3 Minutes · Music Playback 20 Minutes
Only 0.2% of Users Expected to Pay Extra Fees
Additional Support for Livelihood Users Like Taxi and Freight Drivers Under Review

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] ‘T map,’ a navigation service operated by T map Mobility, a subsidiary of SK Telecom, has been caught up in an unexpected controversy over ‘app monetization’ following the announcement of the termination of its free data service. Concerns about a ‘data bill shock’ have rapidly spread, especially among truck and taxi drivers. However, upon closer examination, many of these claims are speculative.

According to industry sources on the 22nd, the zero-rating service that T map will end on the 19th of next month is a policy where telecom companies exempt or discount fees for specific data and services. Until now, SK Telecom customers were not charged for data when accessing T map, but going forward, they will have to pay data fees like KT or LG Uplus customers.

Concerns about a data bill shock expressed by some are unfounded. The data used when accessing the T map app consists of real-time traffic information data and map data. Among these, T map customers use an average of 48MB of real-time traffic information data per month. This amount is equivalent to watching a 3-minute YouTube video or playing 20 minutes of music. Taxi drivers’ average monthly data usage is also similar at 85MB. The larger portion of data usage comes from maps, which can be resolved by downloading maps in advance via Wi-Fi. Downloading over 3 to 5 minutes stores new map caches up to 2GB in size in the T map app’s data storage.

According to company estimates, only about 0.2% of actual T map users are expected to incur additional data charges. For pay-as-you-go users, the charge is set at 0.011 KRW per 0.5KB. Since 1MB equals 1000KB, using the average T map data of 48MB would cost approximately 1,081 KRW.

The company expresses frustration at claims that T map, which secured its number one position in navigation through free benefits, is leveraging its market share to implement a paid policy. SK Telecom provided a paid service to customers of other telecom companies before the full free monthly subscription was introduced in 2016, charging 4,000 KRW per month with data deduction conditions. Even before the free opening, T map’s market share exceeded 70%.

Despite anticipating consumer backlash, the company decided to end the zero-rating service due to current Fair Trade Act regulations. If its subsidiary T map Mobility does not provide service usage fees to its parent company SK Telecom, it could face discrimination disputes. Startups and small businesses have also pointed out since 2019 that telecom companies’ zero-rating services violate net neutrality.

T map Mobility plans to provide 100MB of free data for six months until September as customer compensation. They also plan to analyze the usage patterns of livelihood users such as taxi and truck drivers and consider additional support in the future.