Rep. Han Jun-ho: Criteria for Spectrum Reallocation Fees Opaque, Fund Allocation Discussed Only Once

Representative Han Jun-ho, the floor secretary of the Democratic Party of Korea on the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, has pointed out that there are no clear criteria for how the trillions of won in spectrum allocation fees paid by South Korea's three major mobile carriers to the government are calculated and distributed.

According to data submitted to Han's office by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Broadcasting and Media Communications Commission, the reallocation fee for 370 MHz of 3G and LTE spectrum was calculated at a total of 2.8699 trillion won.

This amount reflects options applied for building indoor 5G radio stations.

The issue is that the government has no separate statutory criteria to apply when reallocating existing spectrum.

Current radio wave regulations apply provisions meant for new spectrum allocations to reallocations as well.

While the government has calculated reallocation fees based on past spectrum auction winning prices, the methodology and weighting applied have differed with each reallocation, and the detailed calculation formulas have not been disclosed.

In particular, usage conditions for existing spectrum have also changed, with LTE data traffic falling by about 35% over the past year.

Amid such shifts in spectrum demand, the criteria and specific formulas for calculating reallocation fees remain unclear, Han noted.

Efforts to improve the relevant system have remained unresolved for years.

After the calculation criteria issue was raised during the 2020 parliamentary audit, an amendment to the Radio Waves Act was proposed to elevate the criteria from an enforcement decree to statutory law.

The Ministry of Science and ICT also prepared a relevant legislative amendment in 2021, but the bill was scrapped when the term of the 21st National Assembly ended in May 2024.

The ministry formed a research group in August this year to improve the system.

However, no timeline has been set for when the research findings will be completed or which statutes they will be incorporated into.

Concerns were also raised that there are no clear criteria for dividing financial resources collected in the Broadcasting and Communications Development Fund among relevant ministries.

Representative Han emphasized, "Only when the criteria for setting fees and distributing them are clear can operators predict their investments, and the public know how those resources are used," adding, "The principles of calculation should be established in law, the specific formulas in the enforcement decree, and the distribution ratio must have clear rationales and review cycles to complete the system overhaul before the 2028 reallocation of the 3.5 GHz core 5G band."
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.