South Korea’s telecoms regulator the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) is reportedly mulling plans to abolish subscription charges for new mobile connections with a view to lowering the cost of services for consumers. As noted by the JoongAng Daily, currently all new subscribers are required to pay an initial fee of between KRW24,000 (USD14) and KRW40,000 (USD24). However, with the KCC expected to issue its 2013 policy briefing next week to President-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition team, it is understood that the regulator aims to begin discussions shortly with the country’s mobile network operators on the removal of connection fees. Commenting on the plans, an unnamed KCC official was cited as saying: ‘We will brief the transition committee about policies that could back up Park’s election pledges on broadcasting and telecommunications after thoroughly examining Park’s manifestos.’
The KCC meanwhile is also expected to push plans to boost the pre-paid market; according to statistics published by the KCC by the KCC, as at November 2012 there were 1.53 million pre-paid mobile subscribers in the country, up by around 50% year-on-year.