Nakao, Samsung Electronics, and Google Also Subject to Disaster Management Obligations... Preventing Recurrence of Outages

Ministry of Science and ICT Holds 'Communication Disaster Management Deliberation Committee' Meeting

Now, not only telecommunications companies but also Naver, Kakao, Samsung Electronics, Google, and others will be obligated to manage disasters.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced on the 28th that it held the 2nd Telecommunications Disaster Management Deliberation Committee meeting of 2023 and made this decision.

At the 2nd Deliberation Committee meeting held that day, a report was given on the review of designating major telecommunications operators in the value-added telecommunications service and integrated information and communication facilities (data center) sectors (digital disaster management obligated operators). Additionally, the amendment plan for the 2023 basic telecommunications disaster management plan and the establishment guidelines for the 2024 basic plan were deliberated and approved.

With the enforcement of the amended "Framework Act on Broadcasting and Communications Development" and its enforcement decree starting from the 4th of this month, disaster management obligations have been newly imposed on value-added telecommunications operators and data center operators above a certain scale. The agenda of this meeting was to determine the measures and implementation plans accordingly.

The first agenda item, "Review of Designation of Major Telecommunications Operators in the Value-Added Telecommunications Service and Data Center Sectors," involved the Ministry of Science and ICT reporting the results of investigating and reviewing operators meeting the statutory designation requirements and discussing the designation targets for new disaster management operators in the value-added telecommunications service and data center sectors.

Value-added telecommunications operators subject to this include those with an average daily domestic user count of 10 million or more, or those whose average daily domestic traffic volume accounts for 2% or more. Data center operators subject to this include integrated information and communication facility operators whose data center computer room floor area is 22,500 square meters or more, or whose power reception facility capacity is 40 MW or more and whose sales exceed 10 billion KRW.

The target operators in the value-added telecommunications service sector are seven companies: Naver, Kakao, Samsung Electronics, Google, Meta Platforms, Netflix Services Korea, and Amazon Web Services (AWS). In the data center sector, there are eight companies: KT Cloud, LG Uplus, SK Broadband, Samsung SDS, LG CNS, SK C&C, Naver Cloud, and MS 5673 Korea. The fixed-line telecommunications service sector remains the same as last year with 11 companies: KT, SK Telecom, LG Uplus, SK Broadband, Sejong Telecom, LG HelloVision, Samsung SDS, Korea Cable Telecom, D'Live, CMB, and HCN.

The second agenda item, "Amendment Plan for the 2023 Basic Plan," established a system for rapid disaster response by newly designated major value-added telecommunications and data center operators. It also reflected changes in the grade of important telecommunications facilities under the jurisdiction of fixed-line telecommunications operators.

To ensure that major value-added telecommunications and data center operators have a rapid disaster response system, the 2023 basic plan amendment added provisions for ▲designating broadcasting and telecommunications disaster management officers and dedicated departments and personnel for telecommunications disaster management ▲setting crisis alert issuance criteria in the value-added telecommunications service and data center sectors ▲matters related to telecommunications failure reporting criteria, procedures, and methods. Additionally, the amendment reflected newly designated important telecommunications facilities and grade changes requested by major fixed-line telecommunications operators.

The third agenda item, "Establishment Guidelines for the 2024 Basic Plan," incorporated disaster and safety management measures such as enhancing the resilience of value-added telecommunications services and securing power supply continuity for data centers, in accordance with the "Digital Service Stability Enhancement Plan" announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT on March 30. It also added measures to strengthen prevention and preparedness for natural disasters such as typhoons and earthquakes.

In the value-added telecommunications service sector, it was stipulated to promote the establishment of distributed and diversified systems to ensure continuous provision of core services and the construction of monitoring systems to manage failure situations in real time. In the data center sector, it included strengthening early detection systems for battery fires, operating backup power facilities, and implementing redundancy to maintain power supply even when Korea Electric Power Corporation cuts off power. Furthermore, common to both fixed-line telecommunications services and data centers, it stipulated the promotion of safety measures according to natural disaster types, such as strengthening seismic design through seismic performance evaluations and reinforcing disaster prevention facilities on rooftops and underground spaces to prepare for typhoons and floods.

Park Yoon-gyu, 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT, stated, “Today’s Deliberation Committee is an important milestone in establishing a digital disaster management system suitable for the digital era,” and added, “We will do our best to proactively prevent and respond to digital service disasters.”