South Korea mobile tariffs to be cut

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<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width=452><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>Published September 28, 2009

</TD></TR><TR><TD vAlign=top width=452 colSpan=2>South Korea mobile tariffs to be cut

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(SEOUL) The South Korean telecom regulator said yesterday that the country's three mobile service providers would lower mobile tariffs and other charges under a government initiative aimed at supporting households.

Savings from the cuts would amount to 1.5 trillion won (S$1.79 billion) in 2010, equivalent to 7-8 per cent of combined revenue of the operators - SK Telecom, KT Corp and LG Telecom.
Those mobile tariff savings would reach 2.1 trillion won in 2011, or about 10 per cent of the combined revenue, the Korea Communications Commission said.
In the country where 97 per cent of the population has a mobile phone, the government has been encouraging operators to lower rates to lessen the public's burden from growing spending on communication services.
'We retain our principle that a reduction in telecom service fees has to be made voluntarily,' said Shin Yong-sup, the commission's director general for telecommunication policy. 'However, it is necessary to guide companies to re-direct excessive spending on marketing to tariff cuts or investment in content,' Mr Shin told reporters.
Telecom companies offer discounts through long-term contracts and bundled products, but have until now refrained from uniform tariff cuts.
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Under yesterday's announcement, operators will lower charges for new subscribers and introduce discounts for long-term users, while slashing charges for mobile data services, according to the KCC.
Most of the tariff cuts will take effect in November and some by March next year, the KCC said. -- Reuters

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