Rep. Park Sun-sook Proposes Amendment to the Broadcasting and Telecommunications Development Act for Data Protection
Including data providers such as cloud service providers in line with the 5G era

A claim was raised in the National Assembly that major data centers should be included in broadcasting and telecommunications disaster management to protect data, a core resource of the digital economy.

Representative Park Sun-sook (Minseong Party, proportional representation) of the National Assembly Science, Technology, Information and Communications Committee proposed an amendment to the Framework Act on Broadcasting and Telecommunications Development on March 4 to include the protection of key data in the scope of preparedness for broadcasting and telecommunications disasters.

This bill was proposed based on the case that proved the safety vulnerability of domestic telecommunication networks through the fire in the underground telecommunications tunnel at KT’s Ahyeon branch in November 2018.

In the era of 5G hyper-connectivity, data centers are important locations serving as the foundation for various convergence services; therefore, if they are destroyed or damaged by a disaster, the socioeconomic losses resulting from the interruption of data services can be severe.

Data centers, which store data—a core resource of the digital economy—also need to be included in disaster management targets to ensure they are safely protected from disasters.
According to data released by the Korea Data Center Association on January 13, as of the end of last year, there were 158 data centers built and operating in Korea, and total revenue was estimated at approximately 2.4 trillion won as of 2018.

Future countryThe domestic data center market is expected to grow rapidly. It is anticipated that 32 new data centers will be built by 2025, and among them, SK Telecom, KT, LG Uplus, and Naver are reportedly planning to construct large-scale hyperscale data centers with over 100,000 servers.

In the case of overseas operators, not only IT companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM, Equinix, and Google, but also investment firms like Macquarie are planning to build data centers in Korea.

Despite the growing importance of cloud services in the industry, legal and institutional preparations for disaster response in data centers are currently lacking.

The current Framework Act on Broadcasting and Telecommunications Development designates the operators subject to the Basic Plan for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Disaster Management established by the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Korea Communications Commission as ▲key telecommunications operators ▲terrestrial broadcasters ▲general programming broadcasters. The requirements necessary for preparing for broadcasting and telecommunications disasters include securing alternative broadcasting and telecommunications routes, establishing an information system for the interconnected operation of broadcasting and telecommunications facilities, and securing materials for damage recovery.
The proposed amendment aims to expand existing disaster management measures, which are currently concentrated on terrestrial broadcasters and major telecommunications companies, to include data service providers such as cloud service providers.

The amendment includes value-added telecommunications business operators (data center operators) that provide servers, storage devices, and networks of a certain scale or larger as major broadcasting and telecommunications business operators subject to the Basic Plan for Broadcasting and Telecommunications Disaster Management, and adds the protection of key data to the disaster preparedness items.

Representative Park Sun-sook stated, “Data is an object that requires consideration of the possibility of loss, going beyond a simple leakage issue,” adding, “As our society enters the hyper-connected era of 5G, there is a strong demand for stability in terms of cyber security, such as data leakage and hacking, but the surrounding environment remains exposed to physical disasters.”

He continued, “Data is a physical asset that we must protect,” adding, “Institutional safeguards must be established to ensure both the cyber and physical safety of data are satisfied simultaneously.”

Meanwhile, during an emergency briefing on the fire incident in the underground telecommunications tunnel at KT's Ahyeon branch held on November 26, 2018, Rep. Park stated that given the massive amount of information transmitted in the 5G era, there is a possibility of widespread accidents.He argued that measures should be prepared based on that premise.