The Year of the Black Rabbit, Gye-Myo, has arrived. Let’s take a look at the notable issues in the telecommunications market in 2023.

In the 2022 communications market, 5G frequency band distribution was by far the most important issue. While the government is actively pursuing 6G services, the controversy surrounding 5G is expected to continue.

■ ‘5G’ is the key this year too

There is continued pressure for the three mobile carriers to further allocate frequencies in the 3.7–3.72 GHz band.

SKT has been requesting the 3.7~3.72GHz band, while LGU+ has been requesting the 3.4~3.42GHz band, and this has caused conflict in the telecommunications industry. SKT is actively pursuing 5G advancement by requesting adjacent frequencies. As competition among the three telecommunications companies intensifies, it will be important to find a way to allocate bandwidth for 5G advancement while resolving the controversy over fairness.

The 5G 28GHz band, which will be the key to realizing ultra-high speed, ultra-low latency, and hyper-connectivity, was decided without disagreement on the allocation of 5G 28GHz band frequencies to the three mobile carriers at the end of December, raising concerns about future advancements in 5G and entry into 6G. SKT will have its allocation cancelled if it fails to build 15,000 devices, which was the original allocation condition, by May 31, 2023, before applying for reallocation, along with a 10% (6 months) reduction in the usage period (5 years). LGU+ and KT's allocation cancellations have been confirmed.

Although the three mobile carriers showed a low will to commercialize 5G 28GHz, the Ministry of Science and ICT revealed its ambition to focus on securing new operators, with the subway Wi-Fi backhaul network project as an exception. The key will be how the roadmap for developing and expanding services for 5G advancement, such as the public-private 5G specialized network (Ieum 5G), unfolds this year.

Therefore, the 5G specialized network convergence service industry is also expected to become a hot topic. The 5G specialized network business is a customized network specialized for the service to be introduced in the region as a network based on 5G 28GHz that can be used in a specific region. Through customized construction, demand companies can flexibly operate the network, and security can be secured through separation from commercial networks, so there is a positive outlook on the possibility of expansion.

The Ministry of Science and ICT is promoting the nationwide expansion of 5G in accordance with the 'Digital Strategy of the Republic of Korea' to open a true 5G era that can be used by all citizens. In the revised 'Enforcement Decree of the Radio Act' for the implementation of the 'Regulatory Innovation Plan to Encourage Digital Industry Vitality' announced on the 2nd, it was announced that the construction of 5G networks will become simpler and faster. The frequency supply procedure has been simplified, and the licensing procedures required for introducing terminals used in the connected 5G network have also been significantly relaxed, so the scope of application is expected to expand in the future.

In addition, discussions between the Ministry of Science and ICT and telecommunication companies regarding the 5G intermediate rate system are expected to continue.

Last year, the three mobile carriers launched plans of △SKT 59,000 won (24GB), △KT 61,000 won (30GB), and △LGU+ 61,000 won (31GB). However, the Ministry of Science and ICT has been requesting the launch of additional intermediate plans of 50-70GB to increase consumer satisfaction and expand choices.

As the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it will continue to promote the 5G intermediate rate plan that provides 50GB to 70GB of data as a major task for 2023, it is worth paying attention to whether the government and the three mobile carriers can find common ground on the effectiveness of the rate plan.

■ Free-riding on network usage fees, or protecting network neutrality The debate over 'network usage fees', which has become a chronic problem between domestic Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and Content Providers (CPs), is intensifying, and the direction of related legislation is drawing attention.

It has been four years since the surge in real-time data traffic from Google, Amazon, Netflix, Naver, Kakao, etc. became an issue and became a burden to the telecommunications industry.

Last year, the government pushed for a revision to the Telecommunications Business Act to hold large CPs accountable for traffic overload, but CPs are calling for ISPs to prohibit discrimination against specific content or Internet companies. In particular, Google and Netflix claim that they do not need to pay network usage fees, as they have reduced traffic by building their own networks with content delivery network (CDN) infrastructure.

However, telecommunication companies claim that it is 'free riding' to unfairly refuse to pay network usage fees even though it is clear that data traffic burden is caused by Google (27.1%) and Netflix (7.2%) in domestic telecommunication network sections.

The controversy is growing as global CPs fiercely oppose the government's measures. Google provides 4K only to YouTube's paid premium users, and only provides FHD-level resolution to general users. Twitch announced in December that it would restrict domestic content viewing, saying it could not afford the network usage fees.

It is believed that the government should quickly come up with flexible countermeasures to ensure that not only ISPs and CPs are satisfied, but also all domestic consumers who are the subjects of infrastructure enjoyment are not inconvenienced.

This year, the government announced that it plans to develop 6G basic and commercial technologies in parallel and focus on fostering related industries such as autonomous driving and UAM (urban air mobility). As the controversy surrounding domestic 5G frequency bands in the relevant industries dies down, we expect that the foundation of the 6G ecosystem will be laid.