Exemption of Radio Usage Fees and Communication Charges in Heavy Rain Special Disaster Areas such as Gangjin and Haenam

[Asia Economy Reporter Seolgina Jo] The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 30th that it will implement support measures in the information and communication sector according to relevant laws for three counties in Jeonnam?Jangheung-gun, Gangjin-gun, and Haenam-gun?declared special disaster areas due to heavy rain earlier this month, as well as for four towns and townships in Jindo-gun, Jeonnam: Jindo-eup, Gunnae-myeon, Gogeun-myeon, and Jisan-myeon.

First, in the radio wave sector, the radio wave usage fees for wireless stations established in the special disaster areas will be fully waived for six months until December as part of the disaster recovery support. A total of 626 facility operators (1,270 wireless stations) will benefit from this fee waiver, with an estimated waived amount of 12,510,780 KRW. The main targets are simple wireless stations such as walkie-talkies used for brief work communications and ship stations (wireless stations established on ships for maritime mobile operations).

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to send notices in August informing that the waived amounts will be reflected in the bills for the third and fourth quarters of 2021. Eligible recipients will receive the waiver benefits without a separate application. Inquiries about the radio wave usage fee waiver can be made to the ‘Radio Wave User Satisfaction Center’ and the ten regional radio wave management offices nationwide.

Along with this, reductions in communication service fees for landline phones, mobile phones, and high-speed internet will also be promoted. Communication service fees will be reduced by 12,500 KRW per mobile phone line per household for disaster-affected households in the special disaster areas rated from 1 to 90. Monthly flat rates for local phone and internet phone services will be waived 100%, and 50% of the monthly flat rate for high-speed internet fees will be waived. When affected residents report to the relevant local government (city, county, district), communication service providers will apply the reductions uniformly based on the extent of the damage.

Cho Kyung-sik, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “We will actively implement support measures such as waiving radio wave usage fees and communication service fees for special disaster areas to do our best to help the citizens affected by this heavy rain.”