Mobile Virtual Network Operator Market Faces Calls for Subscriber-Share Cap on Carrier Affiliates as Structural Reform Is Urged for Fair Competition
TECHWORLD ·
✦ Resumen de IA
As the domestic MVNO market grows, concerns are being raised about the expanding influence of affiliates of the three major mobile carriers and businesses tied to major financial conglomerates, along with the need to create a fair competitive environment.
At a National Assembly policy seminar on the 2nd, participants said the industry must go beyond subscriber expansion and telecom fee reductions and instead pursue fair competition, stronger self-sustaining capacity for operators, consumer protection, and qualitative growth in the market.
At the seminar, proposals were presented for a subscriber-share cap, restrictions on carrier entry into the MVNO market through revisions to the Telecommunications Business Act, and market separation, along with greater transparency in wholesale transactions and affiliate support and the need to adjust the system.
The domestic MVNO market continues to grow. However, as the market expands, concerns are also mounting over the growing influence of affiliates of the three major mobile carriers and businesses tied to major financial conglomerates. As a result, calls are growing for creating a fair competitive environment.
In particular, small and midsize MVNO operators lack in-house facilities and service competitiveness, and are also struggling to compete with conglomerate-affiliated operators. Against this backdrop, there are also arguments that the competitiveness of smaller operators must be strengthened.
Based on these concerns, a National Assembly policy seminar titled "MVNO 2.0, From Quantitative Growth to Qualitative Growth" was held on the 2nd. The seminar was organized to examine the MVNO market environment and seek ways to achieve qualitative growth. Participants said the industry must move beyond subscriber expansion and telecom fee reductions as MVNO market growth continues, and emphasized the need to pursue fair competition, stronger self-sustaining capacity for operators, consumer protection, and qualitative growth in the market at the same time.
It was argued that, within the market's recently dominant structure, a fair competitive environment is needed between carrier-affiliated MVNOs and smaller operators. To that end, it was pointed out that excessive giveaway management for carrier-affiliated MVNOs is needed, that loss-making marketing by carrier-affiliated MVNOs must be managed, and that unfair discriminatory practices must be banned. There were also calls for securing competitive room for smaller operators by introducing a subscriber-share cap.
As a longer-term measure, a plan to separate the mobile carrier and MVNO markets was proposed. Also proposed were measures to restrict carriers' entry into the MVNO market through revisions to the Telecommunications Business Act, to grant a grace period, and to gradually lower the cap on the market share of carrier-affiliated MVNOs.
Kim Joo-ho, team leader of the livelihood economy team at People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, said policies to promote MVNOs have solidified the dual structure of the mobile communications market and are being used as a pretext to evade the obligation of carriers to provide "fair and low-cost services." He said one reason carriers are reluctant to cut rates is the weakening competitiveness of MVNO operators, and that the market shares of affiliates of the three major carriers in that market are nearing half.
The previous speaker said market separation is needed as a way to resolve competition issues in the MVNO market. He said that if the market is separated, the MVNO businesses of affiliates of the three major carriers would need to withdraw or be limited to a restricted market share. He also argued that such steps would activate competition in both the MNO and MVNO markets.
Kwon Oh-sang, CEO of the Digital Future Research Institute, said the MVNO market has entered a certain stage of maturity. He said there is a need to distinguish between market growth in appearance and the foundations for growth, citing operators' own capabilities, government wholesale rate policy, and carrier sales support as those foundations. He also said operators' self-sustaining capacity needs to be examined, and called for an analysis of number-portability paths between carriers, affiliates, and independent MVNOs. He argued that it is necessary to verify whether market growth is expanding an independent competitive foundation.
Based on this, Kwon suggested that policymakers consider measures to increase transparency in wholesale transactions and affiliate support. He also said that, regarding a cap on the market share of affiliated MVNOs, it is necessary to periodically assess whether it has the effect of securing room for independent operators to grow. He suggested that the system should be adjusted based on the results of such assessments.
Source: TECHWORLD · Kim Hye-jin
Original: https://www.epnc.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=407760
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Source: TECHWORLD
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