Galaxy S24 for 5,000 Won? ... First Day of the Completely Changed Dantongbeop at the 'Seongji' Site

Up to 500,000 Won 'Conversion Support Fund' Now Available
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With the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Device Distribution Act, from today, customers switching their phone numbers can receive additional subsidies of up to 500,000 KRW. In principle, it is possible to purchase the latest devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S24 for close to 0 KRW. However, since the three mobile carriers are engaged in a standoff and have not expanded the subsidies, the era of 'free phones' has not immediately unfolded.

A banner advertising mobile phone discounts is hanging at a mobile phone store. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

According to the telecommunications industry on the 14th, from today, customers switching their phone numbers can theoretically purchase the Galaxy S24 standard 256GB model for 5,000 KRW. For this model, the maximum official subsidy is 500,000 KRW, and adding the switching subsidy of 500,000 KRW means that up to 1,000,000 KRW can be supported when purchasing the device. Adding the additional distribution network subsidy of 150,000 KRW, which can be up to 15% of the subsidy, the total subsidy amounts to 1,150,000 KRW. Considering that the device's retail price is 1,155,000 KRW, it is practically close to a free phone.

However, visiting phone sales sites on the first day of enforcement, the market was not as actively competitive as expected. A seller at Techno Mart in Guro-gu, Seoul, known as a so-called 'holy ground' for purchasing phones cheaply, said, "I read the article saying you can buy the Galaxy S24 for 5,000 KRW and calculated it several times, but unless other additional services are included, the price for the device alone does not come out that low," adding, "In the end, I think the illegal subsidies are just renamed as switching subsidies."

Another seller said, "Although the switching subsidy is said to be 500,000 KRW, we don't know how much the mobile carriers will actually provide," and added, "It has not become dramatically cheaper just because it was implemented."

Samsung Galaxy S24 series appearance. [Photo by Samsung Electronics]

The day before, the Korea Communications Commission approved the 'Standards for Payment of Switching Subsidies for Number Portability when Changing Mobile Carriers' and the 'Detailed Standards for Disclosure and Posting of Subsidies' following the amendment of the Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Improvement of Distribution Structure of Mobile Communication Devices. The approved notification amendments took effect from the 14th, when they were published in the official gazette.

The core of the amendment is the introduction of the switching subsidy. The switching subsidy is an amount that carriers provide to support the cost burden of users switching their phone numbers, paid separately from the existing official subsidies. The Commission set that carriers should determine the switching subsidy within 500,000 KRW, considering expected profits, penalty fees, SIM card issuance costs, and loss of long-term subscription benefits. Additionally, to guarantee marketing autonomy, the subsidy disclosure cycle was changed from twice a week (Tuesday and Friday) to daily changes.

However, carriers say further discussion is needed regarding the scale of the switching subsidy. Since carriers can freely set the switching subsidy within 500,000 KRW, there is a cautious atmosphere. A telecommunications industry official said, "The switching subsidy is not mandatory, so the amount to be disclosed has not yet been decided," adding, "Since this is a newly implemented policy, we need to observe how it unfolds."