Government May Revise 5G Starting Fees and International Roaming Charges

The government is considering measures to lower the starting fees for 5th generation (5G) mobile communication services and overseas roaming charges.

Park Yoon-kyu, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, recently told reporters, "There are still opinions that the starting fees for 5G are high," adding, "While we need to consider the investment costs of telecom companies, we will review the starting fees for 5G." The general 5G plans start at 49,000 won for SK Telecom, 45,000 won for KT, and 47,000 won for LG Uplus. There is a possibility that the basic 5G plan fees could drop to the low 40,000 won range.

Additionally, the government is reviewing roaming fee plans. Roaming is a service that allows users to use their domestic mobile phones and phone numbers overseas as they are. However, roaming fees include the cost of leasing networks from foreign telecom operators, which limits the potential for price reductions.

Along with this, the government plans to support MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) providers in launching various 5G plans. Vice Minister Park said, "MVNOs lack bargaining power, so the government needs to play a role."

The domestic launch of SpaceX's low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite communication service Starlink, initially scheduled for the second quarter of this year, is expected to complete procedures in the second half of the year. SpaceX has submitted an application to the Ministry of Science and ICT to operate as a telecommunications service provider in Korea. Currently, the supplementary document review process is underway.

Regarding the entry of a fourth mobile carrier, Vice Minister Park explained, "Some companies have shown interest so far, but none have matured to the point of clearly deciding to start a business," adding, "Companies are also carefully reviewing the matter." He continued, "We will present measures through a task force by June and contact interested companies."