[5G 시대 망중립성 향방은] ① Dedicated 5G network from autonomous driving to smart factory

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From January next year, it will be possible to separately operate a 5G network for operating autonomous vehicles, healthcare, and smart factories. The government predicted that it will be possible to innovate various convergence services based on 5G as Internet quality can be set according to the characteristics of each service.

On the 27th, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced’Guidelines on Network Neutrality and Internet Traffic Management’ to cope with technological advances in the 5G era.

Network neutrality is the principle that telecommunications operators should provide traffic transmitted over the Internet so that anyone can use it equally regardless of the content, operator, and terminal. In Korea, since 2012, guidelines that stipulate the principle of net neutrality have been implemented.

However, with the recent development of communication technologies such as 5G, special convergence services such as self-driving cars that require different network quality guarantees from Internet networks used by general users have begun to appear. Like IPTV, there are already services that use a separate network to guarantee a specific quality. As the existing network neutrality standards have become ambiguous, point out that revisions are necessary to suit the changed communication environment.

The key to the revision of this guideline is to clearly define’special services’ that are exceptions to the net neutrality principle. Special service is a service that guarantees a certain level of quality for only specific users, so that the network can be provided for special purposes. The intention is to differentiate the Internet network so that general users can operate a network that is separate from the network that anyone can access.

The Ministry of Science and ICT put a condition that when telecommunications service providers operate special services, the general Internet must also maintain an appropriate level of quality. This is to dispel concerns that if network neutrality is mitigated, it will be neglected to maintain the Internet quality used by general users. To this end, the telecommunications service provider must submit to the government the actual status of network operation such as Internet access service and special service operation status.

By specifying special service standards through the revision of this guideline, operators can launch various convergence services using 5G communication without fear of regulatory violations.

Previously, the CP (contents service provider) industry was in a position against easing network neutrality. The concern is that if differentiated network operation for each service is possible on the general Internet, it will lead to discrimination in service quality between CPs that pay more network usage fees and CPs that do not.

However, the CP industry agrees with the revision of this guideline, saying that it is a measure that actually strengthened network neutrality. This is because the network neutrality exception service was named as a special service and the provision conditions were clarified. In addition, this is because autonomous driving, drones, and robots, mentioned by telecommunications operators as 5G services, are not directly applied as network neutrality exceptions.

Some point to securing the transparency of the communication status data that communication service providers will periodically submit as a condition for securing the effectiveness of the revised guidelines in the future. The government has to supervise whether investment and quality maintenance in general Internet networks is being made. However, as the guidelines are not legally binding, there are concerns that telecommunications operators may not properly submit data.

The Korea Startup Forum said, “Considering that the principle of net neutrality is becoming more important in the digital age, it must be regulated at the legal level,” and said, “The principle of net neutrality stipulated at the guideline level must be upgraded to the legal status.”

Kim Nam-cheol, head of the Communications Competition Policy Division of the Ministry of Science and ICT, explained, “As it is a guideline created in consultation with business operators, it will have the effect of self-regulation of business operators, and discrimination against users can be sufficiently regulated even with the provisions of the current Telecommunications Business Act.”