Last year, it was analyzed that disputes related to telecommunications, including wired and wireless communication and 5G services, surged. In particular, disputes related to service enrollment without consent, inducement of side contracts, failure to provide contracts, omission of service cancellation, and unjust penalties constituted half of the total.
The Korea Communications Commission announced on the 21st the results of '2024 telecommunications dispute mediation applications and resolutions' processed by the Communications Dispute Mediation Committee, which is a judicial committee. The number of telecommunications dispute mediation applications last year totaled 1,533, an increase of 274 cases (21.8%) compared to 2023, marking the highest number of applications since the launch of the Communications Dispute Mediation Committee in June 2019.
The resolution rate for telecommunications disputes last year showed a slight increase (1.9 percentage points) to 91.5%. Of the 1,533 telecommunications disputes last year, 751 cases (49%) were related to service contracts, followed by 359 cases (23.4%) for important information descriptions and notifications, 299 cases (19.5%) for others, 117 cases (7.6%) for service quality, and 7 cases (0.5%) for terms of use.
In both the wired and wireless institutional sectors, disputes related to service contracts were the most common, with 498 cases (44%) and 253 cases (63.3%), respectively, while 1,392 cases (90.8%) of the total dispute mediation applications were related to damage compensation.
When dividing the number of mediation applications by service provider, SK Telecom had the most in the wireless institutional sector with 332 cases (29.3%), and the highest number of applications per 100,000 subscribers was 1.5 cases from KT.
In the wired institutional sector, LG Uplus had the highest number of applications with 102 cases (25.5%), and the highest number of applications per 100,000 subscribers was 1.8 cases each from SK Broadband and LG Uplus.
Among budget mobile operators, the top five with the most mediation applications were KT Skylife, Korea Cable Telecom, KT M Mobile, LG HelloVision, and Media Log.
Additionally, the number of 5G telecommunications dispute mediation applications increased significantly from 692 in 2023 to 877 last year due to the rise in the number of 5G service subscribers. Applications for mediation related to telecommunications service quality increased from 109 cases in 2023 to 117 last year, of which 76 cases (65%) involved disputes requiring the installation of repeaters, discounts and refunds, and cancellations without penalties regarding the degradation of 5G service quality.
The resolution rate for 5G telecommunications disputes rose from 90.1% in 2023 to 93.3% last year, an increase of 3.2 percentage points compared to the previous year. In particular, the resolution rate for telecommunications service quality disputes increased significantly from 55.9% to 81% during the same period, a 25.1 percentage point rise.
Shin Young-kyu, director of the Korea Communications Commission's Broadcasting and Communication Users Policy Bureau, said, "We will support the activities of the Communications Dispute Mediation Committee by increasing the number of mediators and preparing application manuals for dispute mediation."