KT vows 'active compensation' for loss

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu bows to apologize for the network damage caused by a fire a day earlier at the firm's facility in Ahyeon-dong, Seoul, Sunday. / Yonhap

Subscribers to have 1-month bill waiver

By Baek Byung-yeul

KT Chairman Hwang Chang-gyu vowed Sunday to make every effort to “actively compensate” its customers for damages or losses caused by a network blackout after a weekend fire at its building in Seoul.

The fire began in KT's building in Ahyeon-dong, western Seoul, which manages underground network cables, at around 11 a.m., Saturday. The fire was extinguished about 10 hours after at 9:30 p.m.

Despite no casualties reported, its customers in Seodaemun-gu, Yongsan-gu, Mapo-gu and Jung-gu experienced difficulties in using the internet, credit card transactions, IPTV, and wired and wireless telephone services.

“By fully cooperating with related authorities, we will prepare a plan to actively compensate individuals and business owners who have suffered damages,” Hwang said.

“Around 63 percent of the mobile network and 97 percent of the internet lines including those linked to credit card transactions have been repaired as of Sunday 6 p.m.,” a KT official said.

On Sunday evening, KT announced a compensation plan that it will waive the amount of one month's bill for subscribers who suffered network blackouts on fixed-line and mobile services.

For small business owners who had problems processing credit card transactions, the company said it will come up with compensation plans later.

Explaining the details of the accident, Hwang said the firm is cooperating with the fire authority to investigate the cause of the fire.

“Thanks to a quick response from the fire authority, the fire was fully extinguished and KT deployed mobile base stations to minimize the inconvenience of our customers,” Hwang said. “To figure out the cause of the fire, we are fully cooperating with the fire authority and I sincerely apologize for the inconvenience our customers had.”

Hwang also said KT will have safety inspections on its network facilities to avoid any recurrences. To minimize losses of small business owners, KT added it will provide about 1,000 wireless routers to enable credit card tractions through a WiFi connection.

“To prevent the outbreak of similar accidents, we will carry out safety inspections on all network facilities in the country,” Hwang said.

To resolve the issue, Min Won-ki, vice minister of the Ministry of Science and ICT also presided over a meeting with officials from the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Financial Services Commission, the Korea Communications Commission and SK Broadband.

“We urged KT to repair its damaged network lines by today to minimize any inconvenience people may have and come up with active measures so people who suffered losses can be compensated properly,” Min said.

The science ministry also said it will inspect major network facilities across the country together with related telecommunication business operators and prepare for measures to prevent a recurrence by the end of the year.

While KT announced it will come up with a compensation plan, it remains to be seen how much compensation its customers, especially those using credit card transaction services, will receive. The shop owners near accident sites suffered difficulties in operating their businesses.