KT Changes Internet Plan Names... Concerns Over Consumer Confusion

New Product Name Missing Speed Indication
KT "Following Government Improvement Guidelines"
Controversy in Online Communities

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] KT, which was embroiled in controversy over ultra-high-speed internet speeds, faced criticism for a 'trick' after removing speed information from the names of its internet plans during a revision process.

According to industry sources on the 27th, KT removed the speed part from the names of 11 internet plans in the ultra-high-speed internet terms of service as of the 25th. ‘Giga Internet up to 500M’ was changed to ‘Internet Basic,’ ‘Giga Internet up to 1G’ to ‘Internet Essence,’ and ‘10GiGA Internet up to 10G’ to ‘Internet Super Premium.’ A KT official explained, "There were cases where products with maximum speeds of 2.5G or 5G were labeled as if they were 10G products, so we decided to change product names that could mislead users about speed."

The problem is that removing product features from the names may make it difficult for consumers to understand. The Internet Basic product is a ‘service providing up to 500Mbps speed,’ but even on the detailed page, the explanation is replaced with phrases like ‘Experience internet speeds five times faster at an economical price.’ On major IT-related online communities and social networking services (SNS), negative reactions such as ‘Check the plan names carefully before purchasing,’ ‘They are using tricks,’ and ‘The names are made so that you don’t know what they mean just by looking at them’ are continuing.

KT suffered a setback earlier this year due to ultra-high-speed internet speed issues. Famous IT YouTuber ‘Itsseop’ publicly pointed out that even the minimum speeds included in the original contract were not being met while using the 10G internet service, leading to criticism of consumer deception. The Korea Communications Commission, which launched an investigation, also imposed a fine of 500 million won.

The issue of plan names was first raised with smartphones. This was because mobile carriers’ marketing methods could confuse consumers. In 2016, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission recommended to the then Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (now Ministry of Science and ICT) to prohibit the use of terms like ‘unlimited’ in smartphone plans. There are also cases where naming has been systematized by law to help consumer understanding. In the case of funds, according to the Financial Supervisory Service’s ‘Fund Name Labeling Standards,’ sales fees, sales methods, and sales channels must be included in the name. In 2019, the system was improved so that fund classes, which were previously indicated by alphabets such as A, C, and S, must be written in Korean names.