Watchdog bares teeth: fines cellcos over illegal subsidies

South Korea’s three largest mobile operators have each been fined by the country’s telecoms regulator, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), for contravening rules forbidding the use of handset subsidies to attract new users. To graphically illustrate its commitment to stamping out the practice, the KCC levied total fines of KRW670 million (USD653,000) on the three operators, with leading player SK Telecom being fined KRW380 million, KTF Corp KRW200 million and LG Telecom KRW90 million. The industry watchdog also slammed the cellcos for using less than transparent means to recoup their subsidies, such as setting minimum subscription limits and charging levies.