South Korea’s three mobile network operators have once again incurred the wrath of regulators for flouting new regulations on device subsidies.
The Korean Communications Commission (KCC) has fined the telcos a total of 3.4 billion won (€2.8 million) for offering hefty discounts on smartphones, the JoongAng Daily reported on Friday.
LG U+, the smallest of the three, was hit with the biggest fine – KRW 1.59 billion – since it offered illegal subsidies for the longest period, the paper said.
Its Zero Club offer, which was adjudged to be in violation of new rules designed to curb subsidies, ran from October to early March, the paper explained.
Meanwhile, SK Telecom was fined KRW930 million for its Free Club plan and KT was billed KRW870 million for Sponge Zero; both suspended their offers in January, it added.
Korea’s Mobile Device Distribution Improvement (MDDI) Act came into force in October. Under the act, the KCC sets an upper limit of between KRW250,000 and KRW350,000 (approximately €200-€300)in subsidies per customer. At present thee cap stands at KRW300,000, but the limit is reviewed every six months. The country’s previous cap stood at KRW270,000.
All three operators were fined for breaking the new law late last year by offering hefty discounts on the iPhone 6.
