KT, SKT clash over 1.8GHz frequency

By Kim Yoo-chul

KT requested the government Wednesday to ban rival SK Telecom from starting an LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) service because the service hurts fair market competition.

“KT submitted a recommendation to the government. That called for SK Telecom and LG Uplus to be prevented offering their LTE-A services,” KT said in a statement, Wednesday.

The service, which is going to be introduced via multi-carrier and carrier aggregation technologies, hurts fair market competition, it claimed.

The carriers are competing to get the license for the 1.8-gigahertz (GHz) spectrum band to further accelerate their LTE business. LTE is mainstream in Korea because Koreans are obsessed with faster network speeds.

“The government should consider which carrier is positioned for better LTE service and to meet public interests and to match up with the government’s drive for a ‘creative economy,’” KT added.

In a separate statement, however, SK Telecom and LG Uplus dismissed the claim, saying “KT only wants to get favors from the government in an upcoming auction.”

They said that Seoul should guarantee fair competition in an auction for the 1.8 GHz spectrum.

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning plans to auction the spectrum band soon, which is regarded as a “golden spectrum” because it is the top preference of most overseas carriers for LTE services.

As KT is using that spectrum as the main radio frequency for its LTE service, it is asking the government to allow it to get the license citing management efficiency and public interests. SK Telecom and LG Uplus are claiming that any discriminatory plans by the government will cause setbacks. LG Uplus and SK are providing LTE services via different spectrums.

LTE-A offers download rates almost twice the speed of the LTE in use currently. Today’s LTE doesn’t meet the specifications that were laid down for a next generation network. LTE-A is often referred to as true 4G.