By Kim Tong-hyung
Staff Reporter
There's no question that an assertive government had an integral role in the ascendance of South Korea's information and communication industry. However, with the growth rates slowing in a saturated market and no compelling new technologies in the pipelines to generate real excitement, telecommunications companies are now griping louder against the heavy-handed policy approach.
The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the country's converged regulator for broadcasting and telecommunications, is currently working with telephone, wireless and Internet operators to establish a new regulatory framework for the ``all-IP (Internet protocol) era.''
The integration of various telecom networks into IP networks is bringing considerable changes in services and commercial models and the companies agree that the rewriting of game rules is inevitable. The problem is that everybody seems to have a different idea about what should be included in the new rulebook.
In a public hearing last week, the state-run Korea Information Society Development Institute (KISDI), which acts as a policy research arm of the KCC, announced a report that hinted at the direction of future policies for the transition toward the all-IP environment.
Upgrading telecommunications networks, streamlining regulations that previously covered different markets, fostering alternative technologies, such as WiBro and Internet telephony, and developing new applications and content were identified as the key points.
Policymakers are also considering ways to use the advancement in networks and technologies to lower the entry barrier for new companies looking to scale the telecommunications industry.
The KISDI report suggests the government should require telecommunications operators to improve the openness of their fixed-line and wireless networks and introduce mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) policies, which allow companies to provide wireless services on a borrowed spectrum.
And the broadband Internet should be listed as a ``universal service,'' KISDI said, which mandates Internet service providers to make broadband access available to all citizens who want them, regardless of where they live.
``The discussions about the consolidation of broadcasting and telecommunications existed five or six years ago, but right now we have come to a point where we can truly use and talk about the word `convergence,''' said Yeom Yong-sub, who heads the broadcasting and telecommunications policy research team at KISDI.
``Telecommunications policies should be more than just about controlling networks, but also considerate about the whole industrial environment. Until now, we had too much focus on the industrial side of things, such as having different rules for public switched telephone network (PSTN) and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), and we should now be thinking more about technology neutrality.
``We need to set new rules for competition as the boundaries between industries dissolve and companies previously separated coming to blows in the expanded market. Having the right framework for competition would be crucial in inducing companies to increase their equipment investment and make the transition toward all-IP and fourth generation (4G) communications.''