SKT, KT, LG slapped with record fines for illegal promotions

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC), the nation's telecoms and broadcasting regulator, on Tuesday handed out record fines to three mobile carriers here for using illegal promotions related to packaging mobile phone, Internet and Web TV services together.

In a statement, the KCC said it fined SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. a total of 10.7 billion won for their unfair marketing practices.

The smallest carrier LG Uplus was fined 4.59 billion won, while SK Telecom and KT were fined 3.75 billion won and 2.33 billion won each.

The mobile carriers were criticized for giving promotions worth about 500,000 won to each customer who subscribed to the package of three services.

In terms of fines related to bundling services, the combined fines were the largest ever, the KCC said.

In 2011, the three mobile carriers were fined a total of 7.89 billion won for unfair marketing practices related to their bundling services. (Yonhap)