Assemblyman Yongbin Lee Leads the Proposal of the 'Two Laws to Expand Data Welfare'

Introduction of Voucher System for Communication Welfare Rights of Socially Vulnerable Groups etc.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Rep. Lee Yong-bin (The Democratic Party of Korea, Gwangju Gwangsan-gap) announced on the 27th that he has taken the lead in proposing the "Data Welfare Expansion Two Acts (Amendments to the Telecommunications Business Act and the Broadcasting and Communications Development Act)."

The bills focus on introducing a telecommunications welfare voucher system for socially vulnerable groups and mandating the sharing of telecommunications welfare-related funds by telecommunications service providers, value-added telecommunications service providers, and device manufacturers.

The current Telecommunications Business Act stipulates that if necessary for public interests such as national security, disaster relief, and social welfare, telecommunications service fees must be discounted for vulnerable groups as prescribed by presidential decree. The entire burden is currently borne by the telecommunications service providers.

Earlier, in March, Rep. Lee proposed five bills on automatic discount application for social security services including telecommunications fees, which include granting the authority for national institutions and local governments to apply for discounts on behalf of eligible individuals, aiming to correct the reality where 3.6 out of 10 eligible beneficiaries do not receive benefits due to institutional limitations of the current discount service.

At the confirmation hearing for Minister Nominee Lim Hye-sook of the Ministry of Science and ICT on May 4, she also pointed out the need to strengthen the social responsibility of CPND companies (C-Content, P-Platform, N-Network, D-Device companies), which have earned high profits in the COVID-19 non-face-to-face era, to improve the economic burden structure of data consumption in citizens' daily lives.

Rep. Lee stated, "The nature of telecommunications fees today is, unlike in the past with call charges and text message fees, essentially data usage fees," adding, "Although diversified into forms such as content and product purchases, platform service usage, and device installment payments based on data consumption, the public responsibility regarding the universal service of value-added telecommunications service providers, who provide value-added telecommunications services similar to basic telecommunications services like voice and text through internet networks, is almost nonexistent."