The Forum on the New Handset Subsidy Law hosted by the Korea Communications Commission and organized by the Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI) was held on 24 June, 2014 at the-K Seoul Hotel. The purpose of this forum was to gather scholars, industry experts and other stakeholders together and listen to their thoughts and opinions about the new subsidy cap introduced with the Mobile Device Distribution Improvement Act coming into effect.

Dr. Jung Jin-han, Research Fellow of the Telecommunications and Spectrum Research Division at KISDI, gave his presentation on the current market trends and the government’s policy direction regarding mobile subsidies as well as possible policy alternatives. In his keynote presentation, Dr. Jung explained and discussed the overview and policy changes regarding handset subsidies; the elements taken into consideration in calculating the maximum amount of subsidies (e.g. the expected average benefit for subscribers, market competition, and sales of mobile devices) and a future policy direction; and three possible policy alternatives and their comparison.

The presentation was followed by comments by representatives from telecommunications operators, handset manufacturers and the Korea Mobile Distributors Association, and panel discussions between scholars and experts from the academia, consumer advocacy groups and the government including Prof. Lee Tae-hee of Kookmin University, Prof. Kim Yong-kyu of Hanyang University, Prof. Kang Byung-min of Kyung Hee University, Kang Jung-hwa, Secretary-General of the Consumers Union of Korea, Shin Jong-Won, Executive Director of Seoul YMCA, Kim Nam-su, Research Fellow of the Korea Consumer Agency, Jang Dae-ho, Head of the Telecommunications Market Investigation Division at the Korea Communications Commission.

Contact: Kang Yeen-kyu, Senior Researcher, Telecommunications and Spectrum Research Division (Tel: 043-531-4138)