Input 2021.02.09 14:54 | Revision 2021.02.09 15:00
Suspension of smartphone use due to overdue charges
Suspension of communication service, allowed for 3→6 months
Year-round support for additional services for low-income students to watch educational content
The Ministry of Science and Technology and Information and Communication announced on the 9th that it has prepared such a communication field support plan to stabilize the lives of the people and protect users by holding a New Year meeting with representatives of the three telecom companies, including SK Telecom President Park Jeong-ho, KT Hyun-mo Lee, and LG Uplus President Hwang Hyun-sik.
First of all, video calls will be provided free of charge for four days from the 11th to the 14th so that citizens who cannot visit their hometown due to Corona 19 can send’Online Lunar New Year’. Any smartphone user who can make a video call can use it at no cost. It also targets affordable phone users.
In addition, for small business owners and self-employed people who are using products exclusively for small business owners from three telecommunication companies, 100GB (50GB/month) of mobile phone data will be provided to applicants only. If business owners such as lodging and PC cafes apply for a temporary suspension of communication services (high-speed Internet and dedicated lines, etc.) used in the business due to a decrease in customers, etc., it has been decided to extend what was previously only possible for 3 months to 6 months.
The three telecommunications companies decided to postpone the suspension during February and March during the Lunar New Year holiday so that mobile phone charges would not be overdue and mobile phone use would not be interrupted, as well as installment payment instructions for unpaid charges when applying. SK Telecom and LG U+ decided to postpone the suspension for one month each without a separate application, and KT said that it would provide a two-month suspension benefit by receiving an application for those who were suspended in February. As of September last year, the number of people who were subject to suspension due to overdue charges was estimated at 280,000.
Anyone who applies for low-income elementary, middle and high school students will provide an additional service year-round that allows them to freely use educational contents such as EBS through their smartphones without the burden of data usage. This is a measure to alleviate the education gap caused by Corona 19.
The three telecommunications companies agreed to proceed with wired and wireless investments worth about 25 trillion won, including early construction of the 5G (5G) mobile communication infrastructure, which was stagnated by Corona 19 last year. The government said, “In particular, the people are focusing on building 5G in the daily radius of the people, such as 85 major administrative buildings, transportation networks (subway, KTX, SRT, etc.), 4,000 multi-use facilities (large stores, universities, medical institutions), and residential areas (large-scale complexes). We decided to make an active effort to improve the quality we experience.”
In addition, in order to provide differentiated 5G convergence services, it has decided to expand the 5G network in the 28 GHz (gigahertz) band, which is 20 times faster than the existing LTE (4th generation) network, and also switch to the standalone mode (SA). The government decided to expand the 5G investment tax credit to 3% of the cost to support the network investment of telecommunications companies, and to induce investments such as 5G by strengthening quality evaluation.
Minister of Science and Technology Choi Ki-young said, “This support in the telecommunications sector for the stability of people’s livelihood is a big step toward realizing an inclusive society that everyone can enjoy, beyond the simple recovery of daily life and economy in overcoming the Corona 19 crisis.” Overcoming and economic revitalization were emphasized.
