Korea, Japan trade claims over who has pricier mobile plans

Korea and Japan are trading claims over the average prices of mobile phone plans, with a Seoul-based telecom operators’ association challenging a recent Japanese government report that ranked Seoul as the most expensive cities for mobile services.

The Korea Telecommunications Operators Association (KTOA) recently issued a statement arguing that the Japanese government’s international comparison of mobile service rates “undermined its objectivity and credibility” by adopting comparison criteria “favorable to Japan and arbitrarily selecting mobile plans for comparison.”

“If the data were compared again using the same criteria, Korea’s mobile service rates would rank third or fourth among the six countries,” the statement read.

“(Japan) should refrain from drawing conclusions about Korea’s mobile service rates based on international comparisons using arbitrary analysis.”

Korea’s three major mobile carriers — SK Telecom, KT and LG Uplus — are members of the KTOA.

Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications released a report on June 30 comparing mobile data plan rates in Seoul, Tokyo, New York, London, Paris and Duesseldorf, using the lowest new-subscriber plans offered by each city's leading carrier at the end of last year.

The report converted mobile service rates into Japanese yen after reflecting consumer price levels in each city and compared them by monthly data allowance.

For a 4G plan offering 20 gigabytes (GB) of data per month, SK Telecom’s plan in Seoul cost 6,916 yen ($44), the highest among the cities surveyed, followed by Verizon in New York at 6,684 yen and Telekom Deutschland in Dusseldorf at 4,037 yen.

The cost in Seoul was the highest at 6,916 yen when the data allowance was increased to 50 GB. For 5G plans, Seoul ranked second after New York for 20 GB at 4,902 yen and third for 50 GB.

The KTOA said the data was not based on a fair comparison. Korea has allowed users to subscribe to either 4G or 5G plans regardless of their devices since 2023, enabling 5G smartphone users to choose 4G plans. In July, carriers also introduced unified plans that no longer distinguish between 4G and 5G.

Reflecting these changes, the association argued that the Japanese ministry should have used Korea’s 4,200 yen plan for the 4G 20 GB comparison. Instead, it used an older, more expensive plan priced at 6,916 yen, resulting in Seoul being ranked the most expensive among the six cities.

The association added that Japanese mobile plans, which ranked between the cheapest and fourth-cheapest across the ministry’s comparisons, would fall to between the fourth- and sixth-cheapest if the same criteria were applied.

The KTOA also said in its statement Friday that the report used an inappropriate basis for comparing internet service rates.

“Unlike the three-year contracts commonly used in Korea, the report compared prices based on two-year contracts that included service fees and modem rental costs, resulting in a higher price than generally available in Korea,” the association said. “Even under those conditions, Korea’s rates were among the lowest.”

The KTOA’s point-by-point rebuttal comes as Korea prepares for National Assembly audits of telecom pricing and service quality, which are expected to put renewed focus on household communications expenses and the affordability of mobile services.

“Reducing household expenses is a recurring issue during National Assembly audits, and mobile service rates are among the topics that come up most frequently,” an industry official said. “Given the sensitivity of the issue during the audit season, the industry appears keen to quickly counter statistics that could create a misleading impression.”