Ministry of Science and ICT Holds 'Radio Policy Advisory Meeting'... Discussing Measures to Promote Competition in Telecommunications

Exploring Measures to Promote Entry of New Entrepreneurs

The Ministry of Science and ICT will hold a Radio Policy Advisory Meeting on the 16th at the meeting room of the National Science and Technology Advisory Council Support Group to devise measures to promote competition in the telecommunications market. The meeting aims to explore ways to utilize radio policies to stimulate competition and activate market functions in the telecommunications sector. The Radio Policy Advisory Meeting is an organization operated to provide advice on major radio policy initiatives. It consists of about 20 experts from various fields including law, administration, economics, management, technology, and consumer affairs.

At the first meeting of the 'Task Force on Telecommunications Market Competition Promotion Policy Measures' held on the 20th of last month, Park Yoon-gyu, the 2nd Vice Minister, stated that opinions from various sectors would continue to be collected to discuss measures that have not yet been implemented, referencing overseas cases. This Radio Policy Advisory Meeting is also part of this opinion-gathering process.

Radio policy is a significant policy foundation that directly and indirectly affects the competitive structure among operators by deciding the allocation of frequencies, which are the basis of communication services used daily by the public. The frequency auction system introduced by the government in 2010 has contributed to efficiently allocating frequencies using market functions, promoting competition and investment among operators, and ensuring the social responsibility of telecommunications companies through allocation conditions that guarantee minimum frequency usage. However, some experts have expressed concerns that the social responsibility of telecommunications companies using the limited national resource of frequencies has recently weakened. The cancellation of the 28 GHz frequency allocation last December due to non-fulfillment of allocation conditions is an example illustrating this issue.

Under this awareness of the problem, the Radio Policy Advisory Meeting is expected to engage in in-depth discussions among experts from various fields such as law, administration, economics, management, technology, and consumer affairs, starting with a presentation by the Korea Information Society Development Institute on 'The Role of Radio Policy in Promoting Competition in the Telecommunications Market and Directions for Promoting New Entrants.'

In his opening remarks, Park Yoon-gyu, the 2nd Vice Minister, is expected to emphasize that "It is important to create a competitive environment in the telecommunications market and promote the entry of new operators through proactive radio policies," and that "There is a need to once again bring a wave of competition and innovation to the telecommunications market through radio policies such as frequency allocation."