The government of South Korea has postponed an auction to award additional 5G spectrum as local mobile operators SK Telecom and KT have complained about the process, Korean news agency Yonhap reported.
In December, South Korea’s Science and ICT ministry said it would open bidding for additional 5G networks in the 3.4-3.42 GHz spectrum, as requested by LG Uplus, the country’s smallest mobile operator.
However, SK Telecom and KT have complained about the ministry’s decision, as they claim that LG Uplus is at a relative advantage as the spectrum it had requested is closest to its current frequency and will cost considerably less for LG Uplus to utilize it.
ICT Minister Lim Hye-sook and the head of the three mobile carriers held a meeting earlier this week to address the dispute over the bidding, but the companies failed to reach an agreement, according to the report.
The official urged local operators to cooperate to provide better services for end-users.
Last month, SK Telecom proposed that the ministry put an additional 40 megahertz in the 3.7 GHz band up for bidding, along with the frequency requested by LG Uplus.
SK Telecom said that this proposal will help ensure fair competition, as both SK Telecom and KT can each secure 20 megahertz if the additional 40 megahertz is put up for auction.
In June 2018, the ICT ministry completed an auction for 5G frequencies in which local carriers SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus secured spectrum to launch 5G services in the Asian nation. SK Telecom and KT each won 100 megahertz in the 3.5 GHz band, while LG Uplus had obtained a block of 80 megahertz of spectrum.
South Korean telecom operators currently provide 5G services via NonStandalone 5G networks, which depend on previous 4G LTE networks. The country’s three operators launched 5G technology in April 2019, and 5G networks are available in its 85 cities.
Nearly 30% of mobile subscriptions in South Korea were on 5G networks at the end of last year, according to recent data from the Ministry of Science and ICT.
The total number of 5G subscribers amounted to 20.92 million as of the end of December last year, accounting for 28.7% of the country’s total 72.86 million mobile subscriptions, according to the ministry.
SK Telecom, the country’s largest mobile operator by subscriptions, ended December with 9.87 million 5G subscribers, followed by KT Corp. with 6.37 million and LG Uplus with 4.61 million.
