Mobile Carriers Appeal '5G Cost Disclosure Lawsuit'... Government Says "Respect the Ruling"

Court "5G Cost Data Disclosure" Appeal by SKT·KT
Trial Possible Without Defendants
Industry Disclosure Burden... "Unclear Calculation Criteria and Trade Secrets"

Mobile carriers that lost partially in the second trial regarding the 'disclosure of 5G communication service cost data' have requested an appeal to the Supreme Court. Since the defendant government accepted the second trial ruling, it is expected that the Supreme Court trial will proceed with the mobile carriers as intervenors and the plaintiff civic group disputing the legal issues without the defendant.

According to the industry on the 2nd, SKT and KT recently submitted appeals related to the lawsuit filed by the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy against the Ministry of Science and ICT, seeking cancellation of the refusal to disclose 5G approval data and cost data. These companies hold the status of intervenors, not defendants, in this lawsuit. According to the Civil Procedure Act, a third party with an interest in the lawsuit outcome may participate in the lawsuit to assist the defendant or plaintiff (parties).

Basically, when only intervenors appeal, the entire case goes to the Supreme Court, but depending on the court's judgment, the Supreme Court trial may proceed with only the intervenors and the plaintiff, excluding the defendant who did not appeal. The Ministry of Science and ICT stated, "We think it is acceptable for the Ministry to be excluded from the Supreme Court trial," and added, "We will leave it to the court's judgment."

Earlier, in 2019, the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy filed a lawsuit arguing that the Ministry of Science and ICT should disclose the 5G cost data of mobile carriers. This was because in 2019, when SKT's 5G cost data disclosure was requested, the Ministry only disclosed part of the information, citing concerns over corporate trade secrets.

The court judged that mobile carriers using public resources such as radio waves and frequencies need to provide services at reasonable prices. Also, considering that when one carrier launches a rate plan, other competitors release similar plans, the court saw that after some time, the benefit of maintaining the information as a trade secret decreases even if the information is disclosed. The court upheld the first trial ruling in the second trial, ordering the disclosure of 40 pieces of cost detail data excluding 14 pieces deemed to potentially harm the carriers' interests.

With the defendant accepting the court's ruling, the carriers' decision to appeal is due to the heavy burden of disclosing cost data.

An industry official said, "Since communication services can be infinitely produced after facility investment, it is difficult to distinguish costs by service," and added, "It is also not easy to set cost calculation standards because each carrier faces different circumstances and business environments."

The civic group holds the view that it is inappropriate for the intervenor carriers to prolong the lawsuit. Kim Ju-ho, head of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy's Livelihood Economy Team, said, "There is a strong suspicion that the carriers' 5G-related forecasts differ greatly from actual figures or that they are stalling for time."