The Ministry of Science and ICT notified all three corporations that received applications for frequency allocation that they were deemed 'eligible.' Subsequently, the frequencies will be finally allocated through an auction for the three entities.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it completed the review process for the eligibility of three corporations (Sejong Telecom Co., Ltd., (tentative name) StageX Co., Ltd., and (tentative name) My Mobile Co., Ltd.) that applied for 28GHz band frequency allocation from November 20 to December 19 of last year, and notified all three applicant corporations on January 9 that they were 'eligible'.

Last July, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced that it would allocate an 800 MHz bandwidth in the 26.5–27.3 GHz band as 5G mobile communication frequency through an auction, and accepted applications for one month.

After receiving frequency allocation applications from three corporations, the Ministry of Science and ICT formed an eligibility review team including experts from various fields to review the eligibility of the applicant corporations. The eligibility review involved examining documents submitted by the applicant corporations, such as frequency usage plans, in accordance with relevant laws and regulations to verify whether they fall under the grounds for disqualification for establishing a radio station under the Radio Waves Act, the grounds for disqualification for registration as a key telecommunications business under the Telecommunications Business Act, and compliance with the specifications of the frequency allocation announcement.

The dual frequency allocation announcement is a procedure to verify compliance with the mandatory construction of 6,000 base stations in the 28GHz band by the third year of frequency allocation, as well as plans for frequency interference protection and avoidance.

Stage X Co., Ltd. is a joint venture between budget mobile phone operator Stage Five and Shinhan Investment & Securities. Sejong Telecom is making its second bid since its 2015 attempt, leveraging its experience in the B2B business. Additionally, My Mobile Co., Ltd. is a consortium led by Mirae Mobile.

The Ministry of Science and ICT plans to hold a briefing session on frequency auction rules for the three applicant corporations that passed the eligibility review as soon as possible, taking into account that none of them have prior experience with frequency auctions.

The Ministry of Science and ICT announced, “We plan to provide support through briefing sessions so that applicant corporations can fully understand the frequency auction rules and participate in the auction,” and “the auction begins on January 25.”