Mobile prefix unification brought to court
By Yoon Ja-young
The telecommunication regulator’s move to unify mobile telephony prefixes to 010 will be challenged at court. If ruled unconstitutional, it will pave the way for customers who adhered to prefixes other than 010 to enjoy 3G services.
A community of citizens opposing prefix unification announced Wednesday that their petition will be taken up in the Constitutional Court. “It will take two or three years until the court ruling. Depending on the ruling, mobile phone subscribers with other prefixes may be allowed to use 3G services,” said Seo Min-kee, a representative of the community.
Most of the mobile phone numbers in the country, over 80 percent, start with 010. There are, however, some people sticking to 011, 016, 017, 018 and 019. They got them when regulators gave different prefixes to each carrier before introducing third generation (3G) services. These people, however, are suffering disadvantages as the Korea Communications Commission is pushing for a unification of the prefixes.
They can’t subscribe to 3G services or use smartphones. They have to get new number starting with 010 or make a pledge to switch to the 010 prefix after three years. Hence, those who keep their old prefixes are forced to use the old 2G services. They have been marginalized from the mobile carriers’ subsidy on new phones.
The petitioners said that the enforcement runs counter to the spirit of the Constitution to protect the rights of property, pursuing happiness, to determine individual’s personal information and equality.
The regulator, however, wants to integrate all users to 010. It determined that the multiple prefixes caused confusion for users. “When all subscribers use 010, they won’t have to dial the prefix. An eight digit number would suffice,” the commission said on a website promoting the validity of the integration. There have also been complaints that SK Telecom, which operated 011, enjoyed a premium as users preferred that number. “The prefix is the country’s asset, but SK Telecom used it for marketing purposes, as their old campaign slogan Speed 011 shows,” an official for a mobile carrier said.
The regulator added that the country doesn’t need as many prefixes. “The six prefixes generate 480 million telephone numbers, which is 10 times more than the total of mobile service users. This is ineffective. The prefixes should be saved for the future as totally new kinds of communication services may emerge,” the commission said.
The regulator had planned to enforce the integration when the ratio of 010 users reached 80 percent. The 80 percent mark was reached in February last year as many users gave up their number to subscribe to smartphones, but the regulator hasn’t enforced it yet.
Mobile carriers plan to stop 2G services in a few years when the number of users falls below a certain level. “It takes tens of billions of won each year to manage and repair 2G stations. If the number of 2G users falls, it will become a deficit business,”a representative at LG Uplus said. Currently, around 15 percent of LG Uplus subscribers are 2G users.
SK Telecom, the largest carrier, has 9 million 2G users. It has no plan to immediately stop 2G services, but it is giving incentives, such as new cell phones, to induce 2G users to switch to 3G. Those who take the bait, however, have to give up their old prefix. KT originally planned to scrap its 2G service this year, but its representative said it will take more time before the service is discontinued.