“Prior to selecting a negotiation partner”,
Seo Sang-won, CEO of Stage X (right), attended a plenary session of the National Assembly’s Science, ICT, Broadcasting, and Communications Committee as a witness on the 2nd. ⓒDaily Hong Geum-pyo Reporter, ‘[Daily = Reporter Min Dan-bi] As lawmaker Lee Hae-min of the Innovation Party raised suspicions that Stage X canceled its qualification as the 4th mobile carrier candidate shortly after receiving legal advice from the Ministry of Science and ICT that nationwide roaming for Stage X’s network was not possible, Stage X clarified that it had been negotiating with mobile carriers separately from the government’s roaming support policy.’,
,
, ‘In a statement released on the 4th, Stage X stated, “Regardless of the roaming support policy announced by the Ministry of Science and ICT, we have been conducting negotiations with multiple mobile carriers for roaming contracts through autonomous negotiations between businesses, and we are in the final stages of selecting a negotiation partner.”‘,
,
, ‘Stage X also mentioned about the government’s roaming support policy, stating, “The Ministry of Science and ICT announced the ‘Telecom Competition Promotion Plan’ on July 6 last year, which included roaming and mid-low band frequency support plans for the 4th mobile carrier,” and “They also mentioned roaming support in February of this year through a briefing.”‘,
,
, ‘At the time of announcing the telecom competition promotion plan, the Ministry of Science and ICT stated that they would support roaming for nationwide network services for new entrants, regardless of the supply of mid-low band frequencies in the future.’,
,
, ‘Stage X also added, “Based on the Ministry of Science and ICT’s policy, we participated in the selection process for the 4th mobile carrier.”‘,
,
, ‘On the other hand, lawmaker Lee raised suspicions that the cancellation of Stage X’s qualification as the 4th mobile carrier by the Ministry of Science and ICT was not due to a legal interpretation that new entrants cannot be forced to provide roaming services. These suspicions are based on the documents submitted to the lawmaker’s office by the Ministry of Science and ICT.’,
,
, ‘According to the documents, legal experts interpreted that “Roaming can be established when providing the same services, but since it is impossible to consider Stage X as a nationwide carrier, it falls under wholesale service provision rather than roaming.”‘,
,
, ‘They further explained, “For the Ministry of Science and ICT to designate Stage X as a roaming service provider, Stage X must be limited to providing data services to users of 28GHz service-capable devices.”‘,
,
, ‘They also expressed concerns about whether granting Stage X the qualification to demand roaming for nationwide mobile services, given that Stage X has not met the conditions to stimulate competition in the mobile communications market.’,
,
, ‘Lawmaker Lee pointed out, “There is not a single 28GHz-capable device available in the domestic market at the moment,” and criticized the government for hastily proceeding with the introduction of new entrants without proper preparation, only to announce the cancellation of qualification due to the interpretation that roaming obligation is impossible.’,
,
, ‘Lee then stated, “In attempting to achieve both 28GHz infrastructure investment and tariff reduction, they ended up losing three birds with one stone, including the MVNOs,” and emphasized that the Ministry of Science and ICT should reconsider its policy of introducing the 4th mobile carrier that disrupts the telecommunications market order.”\n’]