South Korea’s government on Thursday announced plans to facilitate the entry of a fourth player in the country’s mobile market.
The Korea Herald reports that the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning wants to stimulate greater competition to the country’s big three – KT Corp, LG Uplus, and market leader SK Telecom – in a bid to lower the price of mobile services for consumers.
In order to lower the barrier to entry, the government plans to offer the new player preferential treatment in future spectrum allocations. South Korea is expected to auction 700 MHz spectrum in the second half of 2015. In addition, the new entrant would be permitted to deploy a nationwide network in phases, rather than all at once.
"A fourth player may not lower consumer prices immediately. Creating a new competitive environment is more meaningful," said an unnamed industry source, in the Korea Herald report. "In the long run, we could expect prices to fall as well."
In a bid to further encourage competition, the government is also planning to dramatically overhaul the approvals process for mobile operators’ new tariff plans.
Under the existing regime, operators are required to submit new service plans for approval, which can take up to two months. The reform being proposed would see that timeframe reduced to 15 days, allowing operators to respond more quickly to consumer demand.
According to the Korea Herald, the government plans to collect public opinions with a view to announcing a final set of proposals in June.
